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6 

A Passing 

Emperor 


A NOVEL 


BY 

ROBERT SBO0RXZ.V 

I JAN 4 .,,)8 

NEW YORK 

THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 

3 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET^ 

n^v "-‘mi. lo 


JUST OUT 

BOB COVINGTON 


A NOVEL 
BY 

Archibald Clavbring Gunter 

‘‘Of intense interest ” — St Louis Star 

“There is not a dull line between the covers.” 

— St Louis Post-Despatch 

“ Better than ‘ Mr. Barnes of New York.* It is 
the most effective indictment of slavery that has 
appeared since ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.*” 

— London Times 


Cloth, $1.25 Paper, 50 cts. 

Sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 

THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 

3 East 14TH Street 
New York 



EMPEROR 


A NOVEL 


BY ^ 

/ 

ROBERT SHORTZ 



THE HOME PUBLISHING CO. 

vtin , 


1 / 




v'O 


// 30 

1133 


Copyright 1897 

By A. C. GUNTER 

rights reserved 


The Winthrop Press 
32-34 Lafayette Place 
New York 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK I. 

FOR OURSELVES ! 

Chapter I. — A Pair of Queens, - - 5 

“ II. — The Hon. John Bellhurst, - 12 

“ III. — How the Goddess Danced, - 22 

IV. — Guard-mounting — over a 

Girl, - - - 32 

“ V. — “Are Ye a Fool or a Vil- 
lain ? ” - - - 41 

VI.— Told By a Kiss, - - - 52 

“ VII. — The Fair Lady in Widow’s 

Weeds, - - - 65 

“ VIII. — Stolen Sweets and Bitter 

Ending, - - - 73 

“ IX. — A Siren from New York, - 83 

“ X. — The Consequences of “ Bon- 
ing Tough,” - - - 91 

BOOK II. 

FOR THE EMPEROR ! 

Chapter XI. — The Hirelings of a Despot, - 99 

“ XII. — Under the Imperial Banner, no 

“ XIII. — The March to Quer^taro, - 116 

“ XIV.— The Girl I Didn’t Leave 

Behind Me, - - - 123 


4 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter XV. — El Cojo, - - - - 134 

“ XVI. — At the Theater Iturbide, - 142 

“ XVII.— Pap Tomasito’s Cavalry 

Charge, - - - 152 

“ XVIII. — The Oath of Marquez, - 162 

“ XIX. — Captain Vallonga, - - 169 

“ XX. — At the House of the Chilean 

Countess, - - - i 77 

“ XXI. — The Lemonade-seller of the 

Alameda, - - - 184 

“ XXII. — A Warning from the Senora 

Inez, - - - - 191 

“ XXIII. — The Devil Befriends Baraja, 209 

“ XXIV. — The Cigarette Ashes on the 

Card, - - - - 217 

“ XXV. — The Duel in the Countess’s 

Garden, - - - 230 

“ XXVI. — The Emperor’s Last Chance, 236 

“ XXVII.— Betrayed, - - - - 244 

BOOK III. 

FOR THE GIRLS ! 


Chapter XXVIII. — Bellhurst the Guerrilla, - 253 
“ XXIX. — A Blonde and a Brunette, - 262 

‘ ‘ XXX. ‘ Viva el Emperador ” - 2 7 5 

“ XXXI. — At the Rancho de Palmas, - 290 

“ XXXII. — A Disagreeable . Awaken- 
ing, - - - - 297 

“ XXXIII.— The Flash of a Match, - 307 

“ XXXIV.— The Fight for the Horses, - 312 

“ XXXV. — The Trap at Matamoras, - 327 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


BOOK I. 

For Ourselves 


CHAPTER I. 

A PAIR OF QUEENS. 

Who are you dragging to the hop to-night, Jack? ” 
asked Ray Harding as he leaned one of his arms on my 
shoulder, at the same time pushing back his forage- 
cap, and wiping the perspiration from his forehead 
with his disengaged hand. 

“I’m dragging nobody to-night,” I answered, 
swinging around so that my shoulder was freed from 
Ray’s weight for the afternoon had been hot and it 
was still uncomfortably warm. “My governor got 
here this morning and I’m going up to the hotel on 
permit to-night to see him. It’s hot enough to melt 
trunnions off a Napoleon gun. So lean on your own 
dinner and don’t try to make use of mine.” 

“Whew ! and what’s the matter with our Jackyboy 
that he’s in such a sweet temper ? Did the tac find 
dust on his mantelpiece or smell a mouse about tobacco 
this morning ? or wasn’t Mrs. Wrayburn nice to him 
when he walked her around Flirtation just after din- 
ner?” 

“Shut up, Ray, and don’t be a fool. Of course 
it’s nothing of the kind. The tac was all right, and 
you know I merely took Mrs. Wrayburn down Flirta- 


6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


tion Walk out of courtesy, and because she’d never 
been over it. ” 

“Aha! so she’d never been around Flirtation be- 
fore, Jacky ?” jibed Ray, throwing his head back and 
regarding me with half-closed, quizzical eyes. “And 
you only took her as a matter of courtesy, eh ? And 
you kept right on the path all the time, of course, 
and didn’t go into the woods or sit on the rocks over 
the river, and never even mentioned First-class Cave, 
did you, Jacky ? Oh, no of course not 1 ” 

Now, I happen to have a quick temper and I didn’t 
at all fancy Ray Harding’s quizzing me about my walk 
with Mrs. Wrayburn. Some of the things he’d said 
hit too close to the mark. So I dropped the easy tone 
of good-fellowship one uses to a classmate, and in 
accordance with the strictest forms of cadet etiquette, 
1 answered : 

“ I regret very much, Mr. Harding, that I must re- 
fuse to satisfy your curiosity about the proceedings of 
Mrs. Wrayburn and myself during our walk this after- 
noon. If you will send one of your friends to Mr. 
Callahan, however, I have no doubt that they will be 
able to satisfactorily arrange a visit to Fort Clinton, 
where I think all inquiry on your part as to walks I 
have taken, or walks I may take, will be settled once 
for all. ” 

Ray’s mocking expression had vanished while I was 
speaking, and he faced me fora second with his mouth 
set and eyes steadily gazing into mine. But it was 
only for a second or so. Then his mouth expanded 
into a grin, and he put out his hand frankly. “ Oh ! 
hang it. Jack, old boy, who’s the fool, now ? You 
know very well I was only having a bit of chaffing 
at your expense. If I’ve said anything to wound you 
or stir you up, I beg your pardon. If that doesn’t go 
though, I’ll send a man to Callahan, of course. As I 
was wrong in running you about your walk, I apologize. 
If you want fight you can have it. It’s yours to sav 
Mr. Bellhurst.” 

“ That’s the talk I like to hear,” broke in Teddy 
Callahan, who had listlessly hearkened to the first part 
of our conversation, but whose eyes had danced on 
the instant at the prospect of a row. ‘ ‘ Take his hand 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


7 


Jack ; take his hand at once. Ye’ll not mind him at all, 
Ray; it’s touchy and fretful he’s been all the day. And 
what wonder, with the Hon. John at the hotel, ready 
to open up on him the minute he gets there with his 
‘John this’ and ‘ John that,’ and ‘ remimber the Bill- 
hurst name,’ and all the rest of his minowderin’. 
Shake hands, I tell ye, boy, it’s too hot to fight, any- 
way, and neither one of ye’d do yerselves justice 
in this weather.” 

“True enough, Teddy,” I laughed, as I held out 
my hand to Ray. “ Pardon me for being so irritable, 
but I’ve been out of sorts all day, as Teddy says. 
Reckon the heat must have had something to do 
with it.” 

“That’s all right. Jack, I was only having my fun, 
and I didn’t know you weren’t feeling fit. So we’ll 
say no more about it. I’m sorry you’ve not got a 
‘ femme ’ for the hop, for I know you’d have helped 
me out with a dance or two. But I say, boys,” Ray 
continued, gazing beyond us in the direction of the 
Academic Building, “do either of you know these 
girls coming up the path ? They must be new to the 
Point from the way they’re looking about them, and 
the interest they’re taking in the barracks. But 
they’re a pair of bully steppers, aren’t they ? ” 

It was late on the afternoon of a day in the middle 
of June, 1865, the time, indeed, lacking only ten 
minutes or so to the first drum for retreat parade, and 
Teddy Callahan, my roommate at West Point, and 
myself had strolled lazily out of barracks, through 
the sallyport and across the road to the line of trees 
bordering the parade ground, where we had stopped 
and were talking over some private matters, when Ray 
Harding joined us. 

Before us, smooth and green, stretched the turf of 
the infantry plain, beyond it the river and Cro’ Nest, 
and far away to the North the line of mountains above 
Newburgh. As we talked Teddy and I had been fac- 
ing the row of iron “ visitors’ seats,” gay with the 
bright-colored dresses of the ladies who had come out 
to see the parade, and the gray coats and white trousers 
of the numerous cadets who lingered chatting with 
them until the warning sound of the drum should send 


8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


them scurrying back to barracks. At Ray’s words 
we turned, and looked down the path leading to the 
Academic. 

Along this path three persons were approaching us, 
a gentleman and two ladies. The man walked on the 
right of the path, next the plain, and was evidently 
the father of one, if not both, of his companions. He 
was rather a sour-looking old chap, I thought, as I 
looked him over, middle-sized and inclining to corpu- 
lency, yet square-shouldered and strongly made. He 
was well-dressed, wearing a black frock coat, unbut- 
toned to show a wealth of gold chain across his white 
waistcoat, and he had gray trousers and highly polished 
shoes. On his head was a new soft hat, wide of brim 
and black in color. His face was broad and red, and 
a pair of keen brown eyes stared boldly out from under 
his turned-down hat-brim. He wore a heavy mous- 
tache and square-cut beard, and they, as well as his 
hair, were almost white. 

With his hands thrust deep into his trousers pockets, 
this decidedly aggressive-looking individual came 
toward us, gazing about him as if he knew where he 
was and had a perfect right to be there. 

The girl who walked on his left was a blonde, small, 
but beautifully formed. She was remarkably sweet 
and good to look at, in spite of the fact that she wore 
a staring blue silk dress, trimmed around the throat, 
down the front and around the skirt with broad bands 
of heavy white lace worked in a large, bold pattern. 
I don’t remember that I ever saw an uglier dress. Yet 
it had evidently cost a lot, and it fitted her exquisite 
little figure perfectly. She had a mass of shining 
straw-colored hair drawn up from her neck and coiled 
under a jaunty little black hat that had flowers and 
feathers on it, as I remember, and around her face 
and over her forehead the hair curled in the most be- 
witching way you can imagine. And her eyes were 
blue — large, fearless, innocent blue eyes. Her nose 
was small and straight, and her mouth, neither too 
large nor too small, had rather full lips of the brightest 
red. Her complexion was creamy white, with a deli- 
cate rose flush on the cheeks. Take her all in all 
she was as pretty a girl as you would care to see. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


9 


But if I call the blonde girl pretty, the girl who 
walked nearest the barracks was downright beautiful. 
The figure of a Venus with the carriage and step of an 
imperious Juno. Her head was thrown haughtily back 
and set on a white, rounded neck that rose like a col- 
umn from her broad shoulders. It was crowned by a 
poke bonnet of white straw trimmed with roses of a 
deep crimson. Under this, her hair rippled away 
above a broad, white forehead and coiled in heavy 
masses on the back of her neck, leaving the small ears 
that sat rather close to the head exposed to view. 
And all this wealth of hair was of a deep, dark, inde- 
scribable shade of auburn. Her eyes were large and 
well set and of almost the same color as her hair. 
Her cheeks were rounded, her nose a most patrician 
aquiline, and her small, red mouth a perfect Cupid’s 
bow above her firm, beautiful chin. Her skin was 
clear white and red, and soft as velvet. A broad- 
striped gown of mauve and white, that clung close to 
her figure, displayed to advantage her shapely shoul- 
ders, luxuriant bust, slender waist, and spreading hips. 

All these details in the personal appearance of the 
three strangers I noted as they approached us, and I 
found that I was not alone in my judgment on the 
beauty of the girls. For I heard Teddy whisper to me — 
they were now close upon us — “By the great blun- 
derin’, thunderin’ God of War! It’s queens they are, 
and no less! Throwback your shoulders. Jack; put 
your hands on your hips, and show those chevrons 
you’re so proud of. Let ’em see it’s the rankin’ lieu- 
tenant of ‘A’ company they’re lookin’ at, and divil a 
fear but you’ll smash their hearts to bits at the first 
fire.” 

“Hush up! willyou?”^! growled in an undertone, 
for they were abreast of us by this time, and about to 
pass. 

But they didn’t. The girls were looking straight 
before them, apparently unconscious of our presence, 
but the eyes of the old fellow with them traveled 
quickly over all of our little group, and then settled 
on mine with the evident intention of making me divert 
the inquiring glance I had fastened on his party. My 
aged opponent did have a steady eye, but I had yet 


lO 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


to meet the man who could look down Jack Bellhurst, 
and my black orbs met his brown ones with a stare of 
cool, critical impudence that must have been highly 
annoying to him. At all even’ts he stopped, whereat 
the girls stopped also. And then, without removing 
his gaze from mine for an instant, we held the follow- 
ing conversation : 

“Young man,” he said, pointing in the direction 
whence he had just come, “can you tell me what 
building that is down there ?” 

“Certainly, sir,” I answered politely; “that is the 
Academic Building.” 

“ And those houses along there ?” waving his hand. 

“Those, sir, are quarters for the officers of the army 
who are stationed at the post. The plain of which 
this path forms a part is the parade-ground, upon 
which in a very few minutes the battalion of cadets 
will perform the ceremony of Retreat Parade. Upon 
those iron benches you may find seats wherefrom 
you may witness it at your ease. The crowd of persons 
now occupying them are assembled for that purpose, 
'that body of men just coming over the brow of the 
hill from ‘ Bumtown’ is the band. They will play the 
music for the parade. If I can give you any furthur 
information, sir, command me, but pray make haste, 
for my time is limited.” 

All this time the old fellow and I had been looking 
each other steadily in the eye, and neither had dropped 
his glance or let even an eye-lid quiver. Of course I 
knew that I should not have been so rude to an older 
man, but his way of addressing me and his curt ques- 
tions had put me in an insolent humor. He glared 
at me after I had finished speaking, and then, in a 
thicker voice than he had spoken in before, he said : 

“ One more question. Are you a cadet ? ” 

“I have that honor, sir,” I replied, with a slight in- 
clination of the head. 

“ Well, you’re a damned impudent cadet. Come on, 
girls,” and he made a step forward. 

But a sweet, clear voice, every accent of which un- 
mistakably indicated the refinement of the lady, 
brought him to a halt. 

“Oh, uncle! ” the voice said, “ How hasty of you to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I I 

make such a rude remark to this gentleman after his 
kindness in answering your questions. We thank you 
very much, sir.” 

I turned my eyes from the old rufhan as she spoke. 
It was the little girl with the blue eyes, and her face 
assured me that she had seen nothing in my manner 
toward her uncle but the politeness of a gentleman. 
And as I looked into her innocent eyes I grew hot all 
over. Somehow I felt ashamed of the stare I had 
fastened on them as they came along, and which had 
doubtless caused the old man to address me as he did. 

“ I’m sure you’re very welcome,” I said in quite an 
humble tone. “If you wish to see the parade you 
had better hurry on and get seats. Those at the far- 
ther end, toward the river, I think you would prefer, 
for it will be cooler there If you stay at the 
Point any time, sir,” I added in respectful accents to 
the old gentleman, “and wish for some one to show 
you about and point out everything of interest, I am 
at your service. You can find me at the barracks.” 

The crash of the “ first drum” broke upon the air 
at this moment, and, lifting our caps, we three cadets 
turned and made for barracks, leaving the old gentle- 
man and the girls where they were. But as I sprang 
up the steps of the first division I looked back, and 
saw that they had taken my advice and were hastening 
toward the visitors’ seats. 


CHAPTER II. 

THE HON. JOHN BELLHURST. 

As I hastily threw my sword belt over my shoulder 
and wound myself into my sash, I found I was think- 
ing of the girl with the auburn hair, and mentally de- 
ciding her to be the most beautiful of women. By the 
time I had pulled the chin-strap of my plumed shako 
under my lower lip and clattered down the steps of the 
division, reaching the front of “A” company just as 
the “second drum” stopped and the first sergeant 
gave the command, “Left, face ! support, arms!” I 


12 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


had fully determined that I must see more of the young 
lady. As we stood in ranks for the few moments of 
“in place, rest,” before marching out to the line, 
Teddy Callahan bent his body back from its place in 
the line of file-closers so as to clear the cadet-sergeant 
on my left, and grinned knowingly at me as he said : 

“ Did ye find her. Jack ? I’ll bet me chevrons ye 
didn’t. And which one is it ? the fairy in the blue, or 
the goddess in the scoop-shovel bonnet ? Oh, I’m on 
to ye, me lad ! It’s a damned impudent cadet ye are. 
Jack Billhurst !” 

Before I could answer Teddy the adjutant had held 
up his hand in signal to the drum-major. 

The band banged out the notes of “adjutant’s 
call,” and then broke with a crash into the strains of 
“Marching Through Georgia. ” A few moments after, 
“B ” company was off, in column of fours. Our turn 
came next. We went out in column of platoons that 
night, and as I strutted along in front of the first I 
wished we were going to have a review. For I would 
have liked that girl in the mauve and white dress to see 
me lead a company down the plain and flash my sword 
in graceful salute as I passed the reviewing officer. 

Don’t judge me too harshly, I beg of you. I was 
young, barely twenty-two years old and the ranking 
lieutenant of the battalion of cadets. I could handle 
a sword better than any man in the corps, as all of 
them confessed. What wonder, then, that I was a 
trifle disposed to have a high opinion of my own im- 
portance in the world ? 

So I thought of her all the way out over the plain. 
And the last notes of “ retreat,” accompanied by the 
bang of the sunset gun, found me still seeking without 
avail. There were plenty of women whom I knew 
upon the seats, and I recognized the Misses Fordyce, 
the beautiful Miss Leggatt of Baltimore, Mrs. Wray 
burn, gorgeous to behold in a daring combination of 
several shades of yellow ; but nowhere could I find 
either the magnificent figure I looked for or the blue 
and white dress of her companion. 

The clear voice of Raven the adjutant calling the 
battalion to attention I scarcely heeded. Suddenly 
my heart gave a great bound. For I had found her. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


^3 


She and her two companions had taken their seats 
on a bench opposite the center of “C ” company, and 
were evidently interested spectators of all that passed 
on the plain. The rest of parade was simply a bore 
tome. But at last the officer in charge said, “Dis- 
miss the parade, sir, ” and I heaved a long sigh of relief. 

“ Forward, guide center, march! ” came in Raven’s 
soldierly tones. The band struck up a rollick- 
ing quickstep, and our line, a score of cadet-captains 
and lieutenants in all the bravery of black plumes, 
white shoulder-belts, crimson sashes, gray coats with 
glittering chevrons on the sleeves, dazzling bell-but- 
tons and spotless white trousers, swung jauntily to the 
front, halted a few steps from the officer in charge, in 
salute to whom our white-gloved hands were raised for 
a moment to the visors of our shakos, and then broke, 
as we started on our walk back to the barracks. 

Teddy Callahan, of course, caught my arm at once 
and edged me down near to the path, chattering in my 
ear: 

“ They’re here. Jack; they stayed for parade, for 
I spotted ’em while old Thaxter was puttin’ us through 
the manual. It’s jewels' they are, rale queens I tell 
ye, and if they go to the hop to-night it’s Terence 
Callahan that will be breakin’ his neck for dances with 
’em. There they are now, just after leavin’ their bench, ” 
as a sudden break occurred in the throng that now 
filled the pathway. 

We passed close to them, and it was evident that 
they recognized us. Without hesitation I slipped my 
chin-strap, removed my shako and bowed in my best 
manner. The ‘ ‘ goddess in the scoop-shovel bonnet, ” 
as Teddy had called her, returned my salute with a calm 
bend of her graceful neck. The little blonde by her 
side flushed scarlet, butbowed eagerly, with a charming 
smile. The old gentleman gave vent to a muffled 
grunt of surprise or recognition, I was not sure which, 
and curtly touched his hat brim with his forefinger. 

“Well, Teddy,” I said, as I replaced my shako and 
we walked on, “what do you think ? ” 

“Think, is it?” rejoined Callahan, in contempla- 
tive tones. “Why, I think, as the old man beyond 
there thinks, that ye’re a damned impudent cadet,” 


14 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Supper was always our liveliest meal at the Point, 
but that night I scarcely joined in the table-talk in 
Mess-hall. 

Up to this time I had never given a thought to any 
one of the numerous girls I had known at West Point 
after our dance was ended or our walk was over. 
With me it had been “out of sight, out of mind.” 
Even Mrs. Wrayburn’s soft, low tones and danger- 
ously phosphorescent eyes had aroused no feeling in 
me, save a slight wonder as to what her game might 
be, in the numerous walks, talks, and dances she 
seemed always willing to enjoy in my society. 

And now I was thinking of this fair unknown. Won- 
dering what her name might be, where she came from, 
how old she was — not more than twenty, or at most 
twenty-one I would have wagered — whether she 
danced well, how long she would stay at the Point, 
and a host of other things about her, that kept chas- 
ing through my head in spite of me, try as I did to 
take an interest in the babel of voices about me. 

I have a wretched habit of thinking aloud at times, 
and as the first captain’s tones thundered, “ Battalion, 
rise!” I muttered, as I pushed back my chair and 
seized my forage-cap, “ Damn! What do I care about 
her, anyway!” 

“You gave yourself away that time, Jacky,” laughed 
Ray Harding’s voice in my ear. “But be easy, I’ll 
never tell the fellows that your adamantine heart has 
been pierced at last. Only, for my sake, whisper to 
me, is it * brown eyes or blue eyes, hazel or gray?’ 
No, you don’t!” and he dodged, with a grin, the hearty 
cuff I had aimed at him. 

When the companies had been dismissed in the area 
of barracks I went straight to my room, and began 
laying out my best dresscoat, putting in fresh collar 
and cuffs, and choosing a pair of my “ spooniest ” 
white trousers for my visit to the hotel. For I had an 
idea that my father, the Hon. John Bellhurst, would 
be tired by his journey from Washington, and would 
probably go to his room by nine o’clock. If he 
did so, it would give me nearly an hour in the hop- 
room. The ladies whom I had seen that afternoon 
would doubtless be there! Teddy came in shortly be- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


15 

fore “call to quarters,” and his first words showed 
that his brain had been running on the same track as 
my own. 

“Too bad ye’ve got to show at the hotel to-night, 
me son,” he said, as he tilted back in a chair and put 
both his feet on the table. “Those girls we saw at 
parade are sure to be at the hop, and it’s ourselves 
that would be able to make them enjoy it. From the 
way they walk I’ll bet they’ve light feet on a ballroom 
floor.” 

‘ ‘ Look here, old man, ” I said, insinuatingly, ‘ ‘ I know 
you’re sure to meet them. Trust you for being among 
the first. Now, when you get your dances with them, 
engage some more for a friend who wants to know 
them, and who can’t get there until after 9 o’clock, 
won't you ? If I can’t escape from the governor you 
may have the dances.” 

“ And which one of the enemy are ye most anxious 
to engage?’ queried Teddy, laughingly. “Will ye 
try to capture the red-flagged fortress, or will ye be 
contented with carrying off the light cavalry ?” 

“Either one, Teddy, either one ! But don’t miss 
getting me a dance with that red-haired girl. I have 
a curiosity to know if she’s light on her feet. She’s 
rather heavy to look at, you know. ” 

“I take ye, Jack, and a dance with her ye shall 
have. And now off to the hotel with ye. Give my 
love to the Hon. John, and tell him ye’re resolved to 
go into the army in spite of all he can say. ’ A pause, 
during which Teddy was engaged in anxious search. 
“Jack, ye divil! ye’ve got on me best hop trousers 
that I laid out on top of the pile on purpose for to- 
night. Off with them, or to the hotel ye do not go this 
night !” 

“I swear I haven’t, Teddy. Look !” turning back 
my coat and showing the word “Bellhurst” printed 
in large black letters on the waist of my white ducks. 
“ You can see they’re my own breeches and not yours.” 

“Then some evil-disposed cadet has come in and 
borrowed them. Harding, I’ll bet me head !” and off 
rushed Teddy to Ray’s room, while I walked out to the 
guard-house to report my departure for the hotel. 

I wrote my arrival down in the office, and as I 


i6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


stepped out on the porch I almost ran against a lady 
who was passing the door. As I lifted my cap in 
apology she turned, and I recognized Mrs. Wray- 
burn. 

“ So you’ll not be at the hop to-night ? ” she said, 
in the low, caressing tone that seemed peculiarly her 
own. “ I’m sure I don’t know what I’m going to do 
without you, for none of the other men seem to suit 
my step as you do. It’s unfortunate for me that your 
father should have come so unexpectedly, for I did so 
look forward to having a good time of it this evening. 
Are you quite sure he’s here ? I’ve looked over every 
one in the dining-room to-night and there was no one 
who seemed at all like your description of him. Per- 
haps he hasn’t come, and you can go to the hop-room 
after all. ” 

“Oh! he’s here all right,” I replied positively. 
“ You don’t know my governor. When he says he’ll 
do a thing he’ll do it, if it costs his life. James ! ” 
calling to a waiter who had that moment appeared at 
the hall door. “ Find my father, please, and let him 
know that I’m here.” 

“You seem well known to the hotel people, I fancy 
better known than most of the cadets are,” observed 
Mrs. Wrayburn in a musing voice. “Do you come 
here so often, then ? ’’ 

“Oh! I don’t know that I do. But you see I’ve 
been here three years, and my governor has visited 
me on an average about once a month, to try and get 
me to leave the army. And so every one about the 
place knows who we are, I suppose. By the way, 
Mrs. Wrayburn, are there any new lady guests since 
yesterday ? I saw two at parade whose faces were 
strange to me. I presume they are stopping here.” 

“There are two new arrivals, but I should scarcely 
think you would have remarked them. One is a hor- 
rid fat girl with red hair, and the other a dowdy little 
thing in an outrageous blue gown.” 

“They weren’t the ones I meant!” I grinned sar- 
castically. “One of them was beautiful enough to 
set all the fellows that saw her wild. And the other 
was so pretty that one didn’t notice how she was 
dressed.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


17 


“Indeed. I’ve seen neither of them, then. Did 
you go wild about the beauty, too, Mr. Bellhurst ?” 

“No,” I said shortly. “I don’t bother my head 
about girls. I thought you knew that.” 

“ I believe you did lull me something of the kind. 
But one never knows how far to believe a cadet, they 
say. Au revoir^ for here comes a gentleman I’m sure 
is your father. Remember that if you leave him in 
time to come to the hop-room you can have a dance 
if you care for it, no matter who else has to suffer. 
You will come if you can, won’t you ? ” 

“ Need_>'^2^ ask that ? ” I answered before I thought. 
Then I could have sworn. That woman was always 
making me say those little sentences that really mean 
nothing, and yet can carry a great deal with them. 
A curious gleam that puzzled me came into her eyes. 
She went down the steps to the ’bus that was wait- 
ing for the people who were going to the hop, as I 
turned to meet the gentleman who was advancing to- 
ward me down the porch. 

He was a tall old man, at that time fifty-seven years 
of age. He had a mass of thick white hair covering 
his head. His face was clean shaven, the features 
sharp and imperious. His eyes were large, black, and 
fiery, as if he were still in his youth. His mouth set as 
if for command. He was thin, but straight, and broad 
across the shoulders. He had been a very strong 
man, you could see, and still possessed considerable 
muscular power. He was in evening costume, the 
only relief to his plain black and white being the mas- 
sive seal that hung from the short chain of heavy gold 
at his watch fob. And he was my father, the Honorable 
John Bellhurst, of Pennsylvania. 

“Well, John,” said the governor, after we had set- 
tled ourselves in a couple of chairs on the back porch, 
looking up the Hudson, and he had produced and 
lighted a cigar, — a luxury in which I was unable to 
join him, we cadets being compelled to enjoy the de- 
lights of nicotine strictly on the quiet. “Well, John, 
who’s the woman?” 

“The woman^ sir?” I answered, with as much inno- 
cent surprise as I could throw into my voice and ex- 
pression, “What woman?” 


A PASSING emperor. 


l8 


“The woman of the hour, John,” he said with a 
short laugh. “You’re a Bellhurst in that respect, my 
son, a thorough Bellhurst. With you, as with all of us, 
the woman is always different. Last sum.mer it was 
Miss Lascelles, was it not? When I saw you at 
Thanksgiving, I think it was Miss Carton. On Hun- 
dredth Night her name was Miss Wharton. In April you 
called her Miss Thorne. And now it seems to be that 
figure in scarlet — striking gown that by the way — with 
whose name I am unacquainted, but who left you just 
as I caught sight of you.” 

“Oh, if you mean that lady, her name is Mrs. 
Wrayburn. But she doesn’t happen to be the 
woman of the hour, as you put it,” I hastened to add. 

“Mrs. Wrayburn, eh? A widow? You’ve read the 
“Pickwick Papers,” have you not, John?” 

“ No need of quoting old Weller, sir,” I answered, 
laughing. “The lady in question has a husband.” 

“ Indeed. And he prefers having a cigar in quiet at 
the hotel while his wife goes to the hop, eh ? You 
must make us acquainted, John.’’ 

“Mr. Wrayburn is in New. York,” I said rather 
shortly. “He is never at West Point, except over 
Sunday. ” 

“ Is he old or young, John ? ” 

“Oh, he’s old, quite old. Close to sixty if he’s a 
day. ” 

“ And the lady ? ” 

“My dear father,” I said, in somewhat the same 
tone as the Hon. John usually employed when desir- 
ing to rebuke a too aggressive curiosity on my part, 
“ do you think it possible that I, a Bellhurst, can have 
so far forgotten myself as to question a lady about 
her age ? ” 

“I had not supposed, John, that you have deliber- 
ately said to this Mrs. Wrayburn, ‘ How old are you ? ’ 
But I do think you have formed an opinion of your 
own in regard to her probable age. How old is she ? ” 

This last question came in accents that showed me 
my father was becoming impatient, so I replied: “ I 
should say between twenty-five and thirty.” 

“Humph ! If you will present me, I shall be de- 
lighted to meet Mrs. Wrayburn to-morrow. Please 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


19 


remember my wishes about this introduction. And 
now, what have you been doing since my last visit ? 
Still steadily pursuing your way on the path of military 
glory, I suppose. I see you’ve one more stripe to your 
chevrons.” 

“Yes,” I answered, rather proudly. “When the 
new ‘makes’ came out I was first on the list of 
lieutenants.” 

“ Nothing to boast of John,” calmly asserted my 
father. “Had I been in your place I would have 
been first on the list of captains.'' 

“ Well, I’m pretty well satisfied,” I said contentedly. 
“ Ranking lieutenant of ‘ A ’ Company is good enough 
for me.” 

“You will pardon me, John, if I say that you are 
mistaken. Nothing is good enough for any man, if he 
will only think so. And you, being aBellhurst, should 
be content only with the highest office in the corps.” 

“Well, perhaps so, father. But if you have noth- 
ing further to remark on my chevrons let us change 
the subject. What are they doing now at Washing- 
ton ? ” 

“Making asses of themselves, as usual, John. 
Considering how they are to rebuild what they have 
destroyed. A difficult task it will be, I fancy. But I 
have something more to say about your chevrons, or, 
rather, about your military career. Will one more 
year of this sort of thing satisfy you ? Then will you 
do what I have so frequently asked in vain of you, re- 
sign from the army when you have been graduated ? ” 

“ Why talk about that now, sir ? ” I answered. Of 
course I had known that the conversation would take 
this turn. My father’s many visits were all made with 
the same end in view, my return to civilian life. 

“ Surely there will be time enough to decide whether 
I shall stay in the army after I have received my com- 
mission.” 

“There is no time like the present, John,” re- 
plied the governor in unruffled accents. “ You must 
have long since understood that my allowing you to 
come here was only to keep you from going to the 
front during the war and getting yourself killed.” 

I smiled grimly to myself as I recalled my father’s 


20 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


wrath when the war commenced and I intimated my 
purpose to join the volunteers. I remembered, too, 
how he had finally compromised by getting me an 
appointment to the Military Academy at West Point, 
and taking my word that I would not attempt to join 
the armies in the field. 

“But the war is over now, sir,” I answered him, 
“ and in all probability we shall have no fighting for 
years.” 

“You forget the frontier service, John. What an 
end would be for you, a Bellhurst, and my son, to 
meet your death in some miserable little skirmish in 
some out of the way place in the West, at the hands of 
a wretched greasy Indian! ” 

“Pshaw! my dear father, what’s the use of looking 
at it in that light ? ” 1 laughed, as the Hon. John, 

roused to indignation, I suppose, at the very idea of a 
Bellhurst meeting with such a fate as he had pictured, 
puffed furiously at his cigar and sent a thick cloud of 
smoke rolling out on the warm night air. “ You know 
as well as I do that a man cannot die before his time 
comes, and when his hour has struck he’s got to go, 
in whatever manner Fate may appoint.” 

“ I grant that to be true, John. And I should not 
have spoken to you about the danger you would run on 
the frontier. For I know very well that the w^7r<?chance 
there is of your seeing service the l^ss chance there is 
of your complying with my desires. But here are the 
facts I would urge you to consider: You are my only 
child, and heir to the Bellhurst name and to an estate 
that is worth several millions of dollars. If you will 
resign from the army and follow the profession of the 
law, I will give you every aid. A brilliant career is 
open to you. You may even be President of the United 
States. That is not beyond possibility. 

“ But, father,” I interrupted, “ you know I have no 
taste for the law or for politics.” 

“ Then you should cultivate such tastes, John. We 
Bellhursts were born to rule. We have always been 
at the head in everything we have been concerned in. 
You seem to be the first of our race to degenerate. 
Oh! Pardon me, I forgot the instance of Charles 
Bellhurst, who was killed at Monmouth by the English. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


21 


But even if you turn your back on law and politics, 
John, you must remember that a sacred obligation 
rests upon you, that it is for you to perpetuate the 
Bellhurst name. Come, come, my son, if you will 
only leave the army I offer to support you, and that 
bountifully, in any other calling you may wish to fol- 
low. Or you may have no occupation, if you wish, 
and may live at Bellhurst, or wherever you please. 
Only, you must marry. I am resolved on that; and 
indeed I have selected a wife for you who possesses 
both beauty and wealth. ” 

“The devil you have!” I ejaculated, bringing my 
feet down with a crash from their comfortable resting 
place on the railing of the porch. 

“Let me remind you that your tone is far from 
respectful, John,” politely observed my father, “and 
that, knowing my decided aversion to whistling, I am 
surprised that you should give vent to your feelings in 
such a vulgar manner.” 

“I hope you will pardon my vulgarity, sir,” I hast- 
ened to say, “but really your idea of marrying me off 
at once was so startling that I couldn’t help it.” 

“You should hdive. helped it, my son. The betrayal 
of one’s feelings by starts or exclamations, to say 
nothing of whistlings, should always be avoided by a 
man of good breeding. Yourgrandfather would never 
have forgotten himself in such a manner. I remember 
that he seriously contemplated the disinheritance of 
your uncle Richard, who, his foot having been acci- 
dently scalded by a clumsy servant, vociferated the 
word ‘ hell’! in an unseemly and undignified manner.” 

“ Hang my grandfather!” was my mental observa- 
tion. But the words I gave voice to were more 
politic. 

“ May I ask the name of the lady to whom you con- 
template uniting me, sir? Or, is it still a secret?” 

“She is a Miss Vanderhoekenberg, of New York, 
John. A very old and very wealthy family. I met 
her in Washington last winter, and her thorough fitness 
to be your wife struck me at once. I have conferred 
upon the subject with her father, and I may say that 
the match is fully arranged. You will be married upon 
your graduation from West Point. Or, if you accede 


22 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


to my wishes, at the earliest possible date after your 
resignation has been accepted.” 

“So that’s the way the affair stands, is it ? ” I 
remarked musingly. “And may I ask, my dear sir, 
where / come in ? Don’t I even get a chance to draw 
cards in this hand ? Or do 1 have to stand pat on a 
bob-tail flush, and take the consequences ? ” 

“Your poker terms are out of place, John,” imper- 
turbably observed my father. “This is the game of 
life, and a wiser head than yours is playing your hand 
for you. The prospect does not seem to delight you 
at first sight. But don’t be hasty in expressing your 
decision in the matter. Sleep on it, John, and think 
it over well to-morrow. I can see that the idea of 
marriage is entirely a surprise to you. Therefore, as 
I feel unusually done up by my day of travel, I shall 
bid you good-night, and we will pursue the conver- 
sation no farther this evening. Think carefully over 
what I have said to you, John, consider my offers 
with regard to their full value. And John, remember, 
I enjoin you, that you have not yourself alone to con- 
sider in this affair. The name of Bellhurst must not 
be allowed to become extinct. On you devolves the 
duty of perpetuating it. I shall see you, I hope, after 
or during guard-mount in the morning. Good-night.” 


CHAPTER III. 

HOW THE GODDESS DANCED. 

“So,” I muttered slowly, as I gazed at the doorway 
of the hall into which my father had disappeared. 
“It seems I’m not to go into the army after all, but 
return ^ to civilian life, and live as you please, eh ? 
And I m to be married, too, am I ? to a girl with a 
five-syllable Dutch name, whom I’ve never seen, but 
who ‘ possesses both beauty and wealth ! ’ With her 
assistance I’m to fulfill a sacred duty and perpetuate 
the Bellhurst name ! Well, my dear father, we shall 
see.” 

With this defiant soliloquy cast upon the night, I 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


23 

went to the hotel office, recorded my return to bar- 
racks on the book, and hastened to the hop-room. I 
reached the door while the band was in the middle of 
a waltz, and paused for a moment to survey the 
ground, and prepare my plan of action. There was an 
unusually large number of ladies at the hop that night, 
and their bright-colored ball-dresses, gleaming backs 
and shoulders, mingled with the gray coats, sparkling 
bell-buttons and snowy trousers of the cadets, filled 
the room with a brilliant assemblage, gliding and re- 
volving. I saw Teddy Callahan whiz past, and 
clasped in his arms I recognized the pretty blonde of 
the afternoon. Only now she was gowned in black, 
and her white neck and shoulders, bursting forth from 
her sable covering, reminded me of some brilliant hot- 
house bud. A moment after, Jim Van Horn went by 
with the girl of the mauve and white dress and auburn 
hair, now resplendent in a wonderful combination of 
old gold and lace. Before I could appreciate all of her 
magnificence, however, Mrs. Wrayburn, guided by 
Garham — or should I say Garham, guided by Mrs. 
Wrayburn ? — stopped before me. 

“A moment’s pause, if you please, Mr. Garham,” I 
heard her murmur — she always spoke in low but won- 
derfully distinct tones — “I reallyam quite breathless. ” 
Then, with a start of surprise, she held out her right 
hand to me in greeting, while she said: 

“Why, Mr. Bellhurst. Truly, it is a surprise to me 
to see you here, for 1 had heard that you were on duty 
and unable to come. I hope you are not Gunning 
it ’ — isn’t that what you call it in cadet jargon ? ” 

“Fortunately it’s all right for me to be here, Mrs. 
Wrayburn,” I answered, telling her something she 
knew perfectly well. “I’ve been at the hotel to call 
on my father. He was tired, and went to his room 
early, so I thought I’d put in the remainder of the 
evening at the hop.” 

“Well, I’m very glad indeed that you decided to 
come. For I didn’t make up my mind to a dancing 
mood to-night until the very last moment, and had no 
card made out. SoT’m left to depend on the kindness 
of my friends. You’ll be good to me, I know, won’t 
you, Mr. Bellhurst, and take at least one of my 


24 . 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


dances ? For they’re fairly going begging, there are 
so many pretty girls here to-night.” 

“I like that, upon my word! ” said Garham with a 
laugh. “Why, you know very well, Mrs. Wrayburn, 
that three or four fellows have been fighting for you 
every dance, and that it’s mighty hard to get a turn 
with you. ” 

Garham nearly always said the wrong thing. 

“Nevertheless, I fear they’ll get tired of fighting 
and leave me to adorn the wall. You may have the 
next, if you wish, Mr. Bellhurst.” 

“I shall be delighted,”! had to say. As Mrs 
Wrayburn moved away with Garham to join the crowd 
on the floor again, she whispered to me over her 
shoulder,’ “Be sure you come at the first note of the 
music,” compelling me to smile gratefully in answer to 
the farewell glance she flashed at me. 

But I wasn’t grateful. For I saw that Teddy Cal- 
lahan had landed his little partner in a chair at the 
further end of the room, and, after a word to her, had 
turned, and was making his way to me as fast as he 
could. 

“ At last ye’re here. Jack,” he exclaimed, “ and it’s 
no longer I’ll be twistin’ fne neck off me shoulders 
a-tryin’ to watch the door and the dances at the same 
time. But ye got away earlier than I anticipated. 
I’m fairly thirstin’ for news of the Hon. John ? Did 
the dear man send a good-night kiss to his old chum 
Callahan?” 

“Nonsense, Teddy, don’t be an ass. Did you get 
me the dances I asked you to secure ? ” 

“ Dances, Jack ? Did I ever fail ye, me son ? Of 
course I got them. That is to say, I didn’t do so well as 
you’d wish with the red-haired, for ’twas only one 
she would give ye, the twelfth. But on me soul. Jack, 
your black eyes must have played havoc with the blue 
ones of her cousin — yes, they’re cousins — for when I 
told her I was engagin’ 'dances for the man who bowed 
to her after parade, she said, ‘I’ll keep the three last 
for him, and then he’ll be sure to get one if he comes. 
I want to meet him and thank him for his kindness 
to us this afternoon.’ And it’s not meself. Jack, that 
will deny I was wishin’ ye would not turn up ’til 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


25 


the last dance, for I was to have every one ye 
missed.” 

“ Sorry for your sake, old man, but glad for my own. 
Hurry up and take me over there, the waltz will stop 
in a moment, and the fellows will be around her in no 
time. What dance is it, anyway ? ” said I as Teddy 
paused in his rapid speech to draw a long breath. 

“The ninth is the next,” he answered, grasping my 
arm. “ Come on then, me son! ” 

A moment later we stood in front of the black ball- 
gown 

“ Miss Rowell, allow me to present Mr. Bellhurst.” 

“I am charmed to meet you, Mr. Bellhurst,” a fresh 
young voice said, and a little black-gloved hand was 
placed rather timidly in my grasp. 

I bowed over it, and, seating myself at her side, 
plunged at once into conversation. 

“What did you think of parade this afternoon, 
Miss Rowell?” I asked. “I hope it didn’t bore you, 
and that you had no trouble in finding good seats.” 

“ Bore me ! Indeed it did not. I thought it beau- 
tiful.” She turned her clear, innocent eyes on mine for 
a moment and then let them drop, while the rose tint 
on her cheeks grew a shade deeper. 

“ Of course during the war I’ve seen lots of military 
ceremonies, but no such marching as you cadets do. 
I’m from the West, you know — from San Francisco. 
And this is my first visit to West Point.” 

“West Point is the gainer, I am sure,” I said quickly, 
“and I hope that this, your first stay here, won’t be a 
short one, and only the prelude to many more.” 

“Oh! we may leave to-morrow or we may remain 
through the summer. All depends on Evelyn. I am . 
here with uncle and Evelyn, you know, and we all do i 
as Evelyn says. Mr. Bellhurst, have you met my 
cousin Evelyn ? Miss Vernon I suppose I should say.” 

“ I have not yet had that honor, but I believe I am 
lucky enough to have a dance ‘with her later on. I 
am on your card, too, am I not, Miss Rowell ?” 

“Indeed, you are very much on my card,” she said, 
with a little laugh and a rising color. “I gave you 
three dances. I heard you would perhaps not be here 
until very late; and I wanted to be sure and meet you, 


26 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


that I might thank you for your politeness in answer- 
ing uncle’s questions this afternoon, likewise I apolo- 
gize to you for the rude name he called you.” 

I heard a stifled snort from Teddy, but when I 
glanced at him he was genially bowing and smiling 
to nobody at all at the other side of the ballroom. 

“Oh! that was all right. Miss Rowell,” I answered. 
“I didn’t mind your uncle at all. I fancy he had 
cause to call me impudent, for I fear I stared rather 
rudely at all of you, as you came up the path.” 

“Oh! indeed, no,” she protested. “ I could not 
imd.gineyour doing a rude thing, Mr. Bellhurst. ” Then 
she blushed crimson, a blush that spread all over her 
neck and shoulders. 

“Here comes Miss Vernon now,” said Teddy, rap- 
idly, to cover her confusion. And up to us walked my 
“ goddess ” on the arm of Jim Van Horn. 

Heavens! what a magnificent creature she was! A 
woman to fight and die for, I thought, as Teddy in- 
troduced us. 

“Happy to meet you, Mr. Bellhurst. No, Mr. Van 
Horn, I regret it, but I cannot give you another dance. 
The next belongs to Mr. Harding. You will have to 
relinquish your second dance with me, if you don’t 
mind, Mr. Callahan. Lieutenant Sibley, an old friend of 
my father’s, has asked me for one, and as you are the 
onlymanonmy cardwhohadtwo, Ihave given it to him.” 

All this in a firm, decisive way of speaking that made 
me feel sure that this young woman had a will of her 
own. She had ! I found that out later on. 

For the present I only said: “ I trust you will not 
make me relinquish my dance. Miss Vernon. It’s the 
twelfth, is it not ? ” 

“Is it? Let me see” — glancing at the hop-card 
that hung from her waist— “ Yes, the twelfth is yours, 
Mr. Bellhurst, and you need have no fear that I shall 
give it away, for I want to talk with you. I know 
some people you do at Washington Alys,” to Miss 
Rowell, “let me see your card a moment. If you 
have a dance, I want one for Lieutenant Sibley. What ! 
Mr. Bellhurst’s name down for the last three’ Too 
greedy by far, Mr. Bellhurst. Which one of the three 
may Lieutenant Sibley have, Alys ? ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


27 


“That is for Mr. Bellhurst to say, Evelyn," Miss 
Rowell answered, in a curious, constrained voice. “I 
gave the dances to him, and he has a right in their 
disposal." 

“Then, Mr. Bellhurst, make your choice. Through 
which number shall I draw my pencil? " and the firm, 
w^hite fingers — her hands were bare — approached the 
tiny program pencil to the card. 

“ Miss Rowell has given the dances to me. Miss 
Vernon," I began courteously. 

But she broke in with: “I knew that, for she just 
said so. But which one is Lieutenant Sibley to 
have? " 

“ Not one of them ! " I said emphatically. “ Those 
dances belong to Jack Bellhurst." 

“And when Jack Bellhurst owns a thing. Miss 
Vernon," added my enthusiastic chum, forgetful of 
all else save the admiration that headstrong Irishman 
had always avowed for me, “ye can bet that all h — , 
I mean that he’ll be da — I beg your pardon — but he 
never gives up an inch of it.” 

Miss Vernon looked at us in surprise. Her eyes 
wandered from me to Teddy, and back again. They 
found me growing red with suppressed laughter at 
Callahan’s impulsive breach of etiquette, and Teddy 
fairly purple with shame and confusion. Before she 
could speak, however, the opening bars of the ninth 
dance filled the room, and a scarlet fan, beckoning to 
me from the crowd near the door, caught my eye. 

“I’ll come for those dances, sure. Miss Rowell," I 
said hastily. “So au revoir until then. And the 
twelfth is ours; don’t give it away to anyone, please, 
Miss Vernon." Bowing my hasty adieux, I crossed 
the ballroom to where Mrs. Wrayburn awaited me. 

“ At last," she whispered in my ear, as she placed her 
hand upon my shoulder. “ Now I shall feel what it is 
to waltz again. I think this dancing of West Point 
men sadly overrated, Mr. Bellhurst. During the two 
weeks I have been here I have found but one waltzer 
among them. Regard this admission as confidential, 
though, for I wouldn’t have the other men knew I 
thought such a thing for worlds." 

“You need have no fear of my betraying you," I 


28 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


answered. “I could never have the courage to let 
the fellows know how cruelly you speak of them.” 

“Not have the courage!” she murmured back, nest- 
ling close to me as I gathered her more firmly in my 
arms for a moment, and made a swift turn to avoid a 
cadet whose waltzing was on the elephantine order. 
“ Doesn’t that belie the reputation you have among 
the cadets, Mr. Bellhurst? ” 

On and on we glided among the dancers. The 
waltz music was beautiful, soft, and dreamy, with an 
occasional lively, defiant burst that enabled us at 
intervals to quicken our steps for a few seconds, and 
then lapse into the old, sensuous swing. The band 
kept perfect time, and Mrs. Wrayburn danced divinely. 
It is true that she clung somewhat closer to me than, as 
a rule, I care to have a woman cling in the waltz, and 
her cheek frequently rested for a second on my shoulder. 

On we went, waltzing, waltzing, waltzing, lost for 
the time to all but the entrancing music, until the 
band ceased playing and our dance was ended. 

“ Do let us go outside for a few moments,” my fair 
companion said, as she placed her hand on my arm 
and gently urged me toward the door. “ The hop- 
room is a perfect furnace to-night.” 

A few moments more found us strolling slowly along 
the walk that led to the library. The night was dark 
and the moon had not yet risen. In fact, if I remem- 
ber rightly the sky was covered with clouds that would 
have concealed her light in any event, so when we 
had seated ourselves on the library steps we were 
entirely safe from observation. The air was soft and 
warm, and Mrs. Wrayburn needed no wrap for protec- 
tion against the damp of the night. 

“ Ah! ” she murmured with a comfortable little sigh 
of content as I placed myself by her side, but two steps 
lower down. “ Our waltz was divine, but I think after 
all that this is better still. Tranquility after exertion.” 

“ I have always been a sworn friend to rest,” re- 
sponded I. “But don’t you think it’s unkind of you 
to speak of my dancing with you as ‘ exertion ’ ? Per- 
haps you may have found it so, though for my part the 
band could nave played on forever and I could have 
kept up with them.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


29 


“ I — I didn’t mean you to take what I said in that 
spirit.” Answered my companion. A faint rustle of 
silk made me fancy that she had moved an inch or so 
closer to me. “ You know very well that I like danc- 
ing with you. I’m sure I always give you all the 
dances you care to take.” 

“You have been awfully good to me,” I assented. 
“Better than I deserve. For not many women in 
your place would care to have a young chap like myself 
tagging about after them, and probably boring them 
no end. ” 

“ Now you’re fishing. But you shall get no bites, 
sir.” Her tone was so far from harsh, that, with a 
little start, I recognized the possibility that the con- 
versation might be taking a dangerous turn. I had 
had many a flirtation, and knew the signs of danger 
passing well. 

“Of course you will be at guard-mounting in the 
morning,”! remarked, to turn the conversation to 
every day topics. And then, as Mrs. Wrayburn an- 
swered, “I fancy not. You know I am rarely visible 
before nine o’clock,” a bright idea flashed through my 
head. 

I wanted to ask Miss Vernon to go for a walk in the 
morning, and I feared that Mrs. Wrayburn might 
manage to entrap me into an engagement with her. 
She was a clever woman at that sort of thing, and had 
a way of making you ask her before you knew exactly 
how it had happened. 

So I said persuasively: “ I wish that you would be 
there to-morrow morning, though. You know my 
governor saw you to-night on the porch, and he was 
very much struck with you. He wants me to present 
him, and I promised to do so at the first opportunity. 
He’s a very gallant old chap, and you’ll have no end 
of amusement out of the Lord Chesterfieldian speeches 
he’ll make you. Frankly, if you will try and occupy 
some of the governor’s time, you’ll do me a great fa- 
vor. He is here on a matter that’s unpleasant and 
distasteful to me, and while we’re together he can’t 
resist the desire to talk about it. So I want to keep 
away from him as much as possible. If you’ll only be 
at guard-mounting and let me present him, and then 


30 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


take him off for a walk for an hour or so, I’d be aw- 
fully grateful to you. 

“I’m sure,” I added, “that if the governor talks 
with you, he’ll think of nothing but you during#his 
entire stay. So you see you can do me a great service. ” 

“ What barefaced flattery! Do you always choose 
such a dark place in which to say such things? ” mur- 
mured Mrs. Wrayburn with a merry little laugh. 
Then she asked: “Do you really want me to do as 
you say? ” And she leaned forward to look in my face, 

“ Of course I do.” I answered. 

“Then I will be there, though I’ll have to lose my 
beauty sleep to do it. But I shan’t mind that, since 
it’s for you. For I really would do a great deal for 
you, Jack.” And Mrs. Wrayburn gave a movement 
that brought her shoulder close against mine, as I lay 
back on my elbow upon the steps. 

'‘'‘Jack!"' By Jove! This was getting on with a 
vengeance! I had known her less than a month, and 
she was another man’s wife to boot. A strain of 
music from the hop-room was borne to us on the night 
air. The next dance was beginning. I half rose as I 
said : 

“Thank you very much. Shall I take you back to 
the hop-room? ” 

“ Have you this dance engaged? No? Then let’s 
stay here, for I don’t care to dance any more, at least 
not just now. You don’t mind being here with me, do 
you? 

“Mind it!” I felt bound to reply. “How can 
ask me that ? ” 

As I said this Mrs. Wrayburn’s hand fell with appar- 
ent carelessness on mine. I made no move, she did 
not.seem to notice it, and as we talked it stayed there, 
and I felt those firm warm fingers tighten their grasp on 
mine. Still I chatted on, confining the conversation 
as well as I could to common-place topics. But under 
cover of my outward cool demeanor the fires of passion 
were beginning to burn in me. We are not made of 
ice, we Bellhursts! When we lose control of ourselves, 
when once the floodgates are unbarred, we will go to 
any lengths. 

Thank heaven, I kept my head that night! But I 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


31 


said things I had better left unsaid, and many of my 
little speeches conveyed far more meaning than I 
intended. The eleventh dance was over and the ten- 
sion was becoming more dangerous, so I felt that I must 
end it. 

“I’m sorry, but I must get back to the dance,” I 
remarked, rising suddenly. “I have the next with a 
girl who knows some friends of mine in Washington 
and has some messages for me.” 

“Of course you must go, then. Jack,” answered 
Mrs. Wrayburn, and we walked back to the hop-room. 
As we neared the door, though, she stopped for a 
moment, and, taking my hand impulsively in both hers, 
whispered slowly: “I shall never forget this even- 
ing, and I hope that you will never forget it. Mine is 
not a happy life, but for a few short moments to-night 
I have been happy, yes, really happy, I think.” She 
laughed a strange laugh, then said lightly: “Now, 
take me back to the hop-room. ” 

When I approached Miss Vernon to claim the twelfth 
dance I found her chatting with Captain Marston, of 
the cavalry, and I was coolly informed that my dance 
had been given to him. “Though, if you really wish 
a turn, Mr. Bellhurst, I can let you have any one of 
the three last. That is, if you can arrange it amicably 
with the man whose name is down for it on my card.” 

“Thank you. Miss Vernon,” I fired back at her. 
“But I have those with your cousin, and I wouldn’t 
miss one of them for anything.” 

Miss Rowell waltzed perfectly, and I thought her a 
decidedly nice little girl. My three dances with her 
were all I could wish. But as I entered my room in 
barracks, that night, and dropped into a chair, I swore 
audibly. For I had not found out, by personal expe- 
rience, how my “goddess” danced. 


32 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


CHAPTER IV. 

GUARD-MOUNTING — OVER A GIRL. 

As I changed my uniform after breakfast on the fol- 
lowing morning, I must confess that my brain was 
teeming with schemes that boded no good to Miss 
Vernon’s peace of mind. The snubbing I had received 
from her the night before had cut deeper than I knew, 
and I was desirous of an opportunity to pay her back 
in her own coin. This unceremonious handing over 
my dance to another, who was moreover an officer, 
and therefore, according to the unwritten but well- 
understood law of West Point hop etiquette, bound to 
withdraw when the claims of a cadet were in question, 
irritated me far more than I cared to admit. 

So it happened that I took unusual pains with my 
toilet; drawing on and creasing an especially 
“spoony” pair of ducks. After I had carefully 
buttoned myself into my newest dress-coat, I did 
something the remembrance of which causes a hot 
glow to creep.over my face, even after all these years. 
1 took the mirror from its place at the center of our 
iron mantelpiece,, placed it^against the wall on my 
study-table, and with, the aid of a small hand-glass 
took a critical view of myself, before, behind, and side- 
wise. 

I may as well own that I was pleased with what m*y 
mirror showed me. Im complexion I was dark, like 
all the Bellhursts. Above my highTorehead my thick, 
almost black hair was cut short,' according to regula- 
tions, and parted in the middle. My well-defined eye- 
brows were black, and so were the eyes that flashed 
under them. I had the family features, the haughty 
aquiline nose, firm, thin-lipped mouth, and determined 
chin. In stature I stood a trifle over six feet in my 
socks, and my build was graceful rather than Her- 
culean. You had to look at me a second time before 
you discovered that despite my slim appearance I was 
really broad across the shoulders and deep of chest. 
My waist was exceptionally small, even for a cadet, 
and I was thin in the flanks and long of limb. But 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


33 


those long arms of mine were covered with muscles 
like bands of steel in those days, and the wickedest 
“bucker ” in the riding-hall could never move me an 
inch in my seat, once my legs had closed upon his back. 

Teddy Callahan, doubled up like a jack-knife upon 
the iron bedstead in his alcove, with his feet on the 
footboard and his back resting against the piled-up 
blankets and comforters, had been surveying me with 
twinkling eyes, and as I replaced the mirror on the 
mantelpiece and turned to leave the room, he chanted 
demurely to the tune of “Army Blue 

“Oh, maiden won’t ye come with me 
Around Flirtation Walk? 

Bell-buttons I will give to thee, 

And lots of spoony talk!” 

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Teddy,” I grinned 
as I went out. “That’s exactly what I’m bent on this 
morning ” 

“Small success ye’ll have, though,” he bawled after 
me. “She soured on ye last night the worst way, 
and ” — but I was going down the front steps of the 
division, and was out of hearing. 

The visitors’ seats were fairly well filled that morn- 
ing, and as I passed along the path in front of “Offi- 
cers’ Row ” my cap was continually off my head. I 
did not stop to chat, however, but walked swiftly past 
all my acquaintances until I came up to where Mrs. 
Wrayburn was holding a languid conversation with 
Garham, while waiting for me. 

She was gowned in a morning costume of lilac, with 
lots of lace and ribbons about it, that set off most ef- 
fectively her black eyes and hair and clear, colorless’ 
complexion. Somehow when I think of that woman I 
can never help mentioning her clothes. She dressed a 
great deal, and her gowns were numerous and taste- 
fully pretty. They always seemed part of the woman. 

We shook hands, and Garham, evidently seeing that 
it was an appointed meeting took his leave. 

“Thank you more than I can tell you for being 
here,” I said, gratefully. “I see the governor stand- 
ing farther up the walk. If you’ll let me leave you 
here for a moment I’ll present him.” 


34 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“You needn’t be in such a hurry to leave me,” she 
murmured softly, raising her large, dark eyes reproach- 
fully. Then she added hurriedly: “ One word before 
he comes. Jack. When shall we have another long 
talk ? This afternoon ? I have nothing on for then.” 

“Impossible this afternoon. I’m promised to Calla- 
han for some scheme of his,” I answered positively. 

“Then meet me at the hotel hedge before the band 
concert to-night. You won’t fail to be there?” 

“I will be at your orders without fail,” I smiled. 
But it was with a troubled mind. For after the walk 
of the night before I had made up my mind to see very 
little of Mrs. Wrayburn in the future. But “Man 
proposes and woman disposes.” I was in for a long 
evening of her dangerous society. 

No more was said, for the Hon. John Bellhurst had 
come up, and I promptly introduced him. As I stood 
listening to his ceremonious and polished opening 
speeches to Mrs. Wrayburn, the “second drum” for 
guard-mounting rattled off in front of the sallyport, 
and at the same time the lofty bearskin of the drum- 
major, heading the band, rose above the crest of the 
plateau from the direction of “Bumtown.” 

“ I know you’ll both forgive me if I say good-bye,” 
I remarked, hurriedly. “Look out for my father, 
Mrs. Wrayburn. I’ve heard that he’s known as a 
dangerous man among the fair sex.” 

“I can well believe that.” And she flashed her 
eyes at the governor in a way that made him 
straighten himself up and beam complacently about 
him. What fools we men are, old or young! Fools, 
surpassed in our folly only by the women who make 
fools of us! 

The music of the band had ceased, and as I walked 
up the path toward the place where Miss Vernon 
and Miss Rowell, whose coming I had just remarked, 
w'ere standing, the sharp tones of the sergeant-major, 
as he formed and “dressed” the guard, preparatory 
to turning it over to the adjutant, came ringing across 
the plain. 

The two girls had come down to see guard-mount- 
ing under care of old Mr. Vernon, and his stern eye 
and forbidding expression had so far deterred any of 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


35 


the boys from joining them, though several were grad- 
ually edging in their direction. I went straight up and 
held out my hand. 

“Good morning, Mr. Bellhurst. I expected that 
we would see you here,” said Miss Vernon, as she re- 
turned my greeting. “Let me present you to my 
father. Though you’ve met before in rather an in- 
formal way. ” 

“ I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Bellhurst.” The old 
chap said this in amiable tones, much to my surprise. 
“And I hope your feelings weren’t hurt by my rather 
hasty speech yesterday. I’ve thought it over since 
then, and believe I spoke too quickly. So I’m glad to 
be able to explain.” 

“ The fault was mine, sir,” I answered him. “I 
reckon I am apt to be impudent sometimes, and 
‘damned impudent,’ too.” Whereat we both laughed, 
as if I had said something really witty. 

“ Oh, I guess not more than most young fellows are 
apt to be,” he said, very jovially for him. “Any 
way, I’ll shake hands on it, if you will, my boy, and 
we’ll cry quits.” And our hands met in a cordial 
handshake. 

“You can explain guard-mounting to us, as you’re 
doubtless familiar with all its mysteries, Mr. Bell- 
hurst,” said Miss Vernon. “I always put people to 
some good use, you see. So prepare to answer num- 
berless questions.” 

“Willingly. Only may I stipulate that as a reward for 
my explanation that you will come for a walk with me. 
Miss Vernon, after guard-mounting is over ?” 

As I said this I thought I heard a soft little “ Oh !” 
or some sort of inarticulate murmur from Miss Rowell. 
But it must have been imagination on my part, for 
when I looked at her she was apparently lost in admir- 
ing contemplation of the sergeant-major, who was 
walking swiftly up to report to the adjutant. 

“I shall be glad to go with you. But now to your 
task.” 

Then I go into the tactical mysteries of guard-mount- 
ing, rather astounding my fair hearers, as I tell them 
the reason of the band giving its three great 
flourishes before it starts is an invocation to the 


36 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Trinity, and means “In the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” adding: “You know 
there’s some tincture of religion attached to the sol- 
dier’s life after all. ” 

“ To the soldier’s, yes, I suppose. But very little 
to the cadet’s, is it not so, Mr. Bellhurst ? You boys 
generally have a reputation for anything but piety.” 

Now, why is it that a man, especially a very young 
man, likes to be told that he is wicked ? Deny, if you 
dare, my brother sinner, that you have listened un- 
moved to a pretty young woman, as she assured you 
that she knew you were far from a model of virtue. 
Outwardly you are protesting your goodness ; in your 
heart you were pleased that she should call you bad. 

But wicked or good, what cadet could gaze 
upon those two small platoons of strong and 
healthy youth, could mark the clean-shaven young 
faces, stern under the stiff, black shakos, the steady 
eyes kept straight to the front, the motionless gray 
coated bodies, with their white shoulder belts, the 
snowy, duck-clad legs, moving swiftly in accurate time 
to the music — who could see all that, I ask, and not 
feel proud to be one of them ? Verily, it was good to 
be a cadet, and I take no shame to own it. 

A few moments after, I remark persuasively, “But 
come, have I earned my walk? They’ll wheel into 
line, now, and then march over to the barracks in col- 
umn of fours. You’ve seen all the ceremony, so what 
do you say to a stroll around Flirtation? ” 

“Ready for anything!” returned Miss Vernon defi- 
antly, raising her parasol, and we moved away to- 
gether. 

“So you didn’t mind my giving away your dance 
last night? ” the young lady said, looking at me curi- 
ously. We had walked along the brow of the hill 
around Trophy Point, and were turning down the path 
above the siege-and-mortar batteries. 

“Mind it? Well, I can’t exactly say that I didn’t 
mind. You see I wanted to waltz with you, or I 
shouldn t have booked the dance. But as you seemed 
to have found some one more to your taste I didn’t 
feel very badly about it,” I answered frankly. 

“ Well, that’s candid of you, to say the least, Mr. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


37 


Bellhurst. And I may as well be honest in return. I 
did want to dance with you, and if you had objected 
the slightest to my giving it away you’d have had the 
waltz. But you did not object at all.” 

“Still if you wanted to dance with me, why didn’t 
you ? ” I queried savagely. 

“ I didn't quite like the way you said those dances 
with Alys belonged to you. And when Mr. Callahan 
declared you never gave up anything I made up my 
mind to see what sort of a fight you would make for a 
little thing in life. And you didn’t make any.” 

“ Oh, there was an officer in question, you see,” I 
explained. “Had the man you favored been a cadet 
I’d have had that dance if I wanted it.” 

“And why should a cadet give up to you quicker 
than an officer ? I don’t understand,” declared Miss 
Vernon. 

“You see I’m more popular with the cadets. The 
fellows like me, and I’m sure no one of them would 
care to take a danc^ that had been given to me,” I re- 
turned with a grin. 

The last part of my speech was strictly true. Thanks 
to eight years spent in English public schools I was 
the best boxer in the corps. 

“And have the cadets really such regard for the 
feelings of the men they like ? Usually one doesn’t 
find men that way. As a rule, they’re very eager to 
get other men’s dances. 

“It’s not the custom here. Miss Vernon,” I said 
truthfully. “ When a man’s name is on a girl’s card 
for a dance the other men respect it, and don’t try to 
take his turn away from him. They do as they would 
be done by in respect to all engagements.” 

“Well, it’s a nice custom, and I wish men elsewhere 
thought the same way. Are we going into this path 
in the woods ? Where does it go ? ” 

“This, Miss Vernon, is the famous ‘Flirtation 
Walk ’ you’ve heard so much about from the girl friends 
who’ve been here. But console yourself, for not one 
half told of it is true.” 

“I don’t know about that,” said my fair companion, 
looking over her shoulder at me, for she was walking 
slightly in the advance. “ I’ve heard some interesting 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


• 38 

Stories of things that have happened on ‘ Flirtation. ’ 
Youknowtheplace pretty well, I’ll wager, Mr.Bellhurst.” 

“Fve been here before in my time,” I said, mod- 
estly. “ My father and I sometimes walk down here 
for exercise.” 

« “Your father 'i Pooh ! You’ve been here with far 

more agreeable companions than that high and mighty- 
looking old man. Oh, what have I said ? I — I beg 
your pardon. ” 

“No apologies needed,” I assured her. “The 
governor’s not only high and mighty-looking, but he 
furthermore doesn’t belie his looks.” 

“ Still it wasn’t polite of me to say what I did,” she 
half laughed, and then proceeded: “Now, please tell 
me something about yourself, Mr. Bellhurst. Amy 
Randolph gossiped about you in Washington this spring, 
and I’m curious to know more. So pray begin.” 

“You know Amy, then?” I said, rather surpricedly, 
for Miss Randolph was in the best set in Washington 
and New York. 

“Oh, yes, she is one of my dearest friends. So talk 
as if you were chatting to her, and embellish the pic- 
ture of yourself that she gave me.” 

“I can’t do that without first knowing what Miss 
Randolph said of me,” I objected. 

“Oh, she informed me you were a very nice boy, 
but perfectly daft about being a soldier; that you’ve 
lived abroad a good deal and know French and Spanish 
like a native; also that you’ve had two or three narrow 
escapes from getting into very hot water about differ- 
ent things, and caused your father a good deal of 
worry; that you were once going to fight a duel in 
Paris, but the police got wind of it and prevented it. 
Likewise a few other things that I’d like to know the 
truth about.” 

“Whew !” I whistled. “Amy certainly must have 
opened her budget to you unreservedly. You’ll have 
to rest content with what she told you ; it’s too warm to 
walk around and talk about myself at the same time. 
A lighter subject of conversation would be far cooler 
work, I assure you.” 

“ Then let’s sit down on those rocks over the river,” 
remarked Miss Vernon promptly, pointing through a 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


39 


break in the bushes that bordered the path. “They’re 
in the shade, and you can keep cool and talk at the 
same time.” 

“Oh, I don’t want to bore you with my troubles,” 
I remonstrated. “We’d better keep on along the 
path, and we can find a seat on a bench, if you’re 
tired, when we come to Gee’s Point.” 

“Who loves me follows me,” she retorted, spring- 
ing into the bushes. 

Five minutes later my charge was comfortably 
perched on a rock overhanging the river, and I was 
lazily stretched out a trifle below her, my back against 
a boulder, and my forage-cap in my lap. 

“ Now go on and tell me all about yourself. From 
the very beginning, please. I do like to know all 
about the people I meet,” she commanded. 

“ There’s not very much to relate,” I assured her. 
“I was born in France, as you doubtless know if 
you’ve heard Amy Randolph talk of me ; and my 
mother died when I was two years old. I lived 
there under my grandfather’s guardianship until I was 
eight. Then the governor came and took me to Eng- 
land, and I had eight years at different schools in that 
country. I joined him at Madrid then, and we were 
in Spain over two years. We came back to the United 
States, and lived sometimes at Bellhurst, sometimes at 
Washington, until the war broke out. Then I tried to 
go and fight, but the governor wouldn’t have it, and 
got me to come here. That’s about all.” 

“Very good for a general outline, but sadly lacking 
in particulars,” was Miss Vernon’s verdict. “Come, 
Mr. Bellhurst, I’m sure you’ve had adventures, and 
seen lots of interesting things during your years of 
wandering.” 

Really, I was loath to talk about myself that morn- 
ing, but the girl was persistent, and would not be 
denied. 

Gradually she led me on to talk of my family, be- 
ginning with the first American Bellhurst, who had 
been a gay cavalier, but had suddenly relinquished his 
wild life at the court of the second Charles to come to 
Pennsylvania, and throw in his lot with the Quaker 
colony of the Penns. There, though he had never 


40 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


embraced the religion of the Friends, he had pros- 
pered, and died well-to-do in this world's goods. 

From him had descended a long line of Bellhursts, 
who had done honor to the family name and made it 
of note in the colony. My grandfather had carried 
the Bellhurst fortunes to their highest pinnacle. A 
man of iron will and blessed with a constitution that 
enabled him to perform the work of four ordinary 
men, he had aimed high and attained his goal. The 
ample means he had inherited from his forbears he 
had used without hesitation to further his ambitious 
projects, and instead of becoming poor in pocket 
as he grew rich in fame, at the end of his life he 
had more than quadrupled his fortune. 

My father had been placed in the diplomatic ser- 
vice long before his father’s death. Soon after 
that event had made him master of princely 
wealth he had been attached to the legation at 
Paris, and there he had met my mother, the 
daughter of an impoverished French noble. For the 
first time in several generations a Bellhurst had mar- 
ried purely for love. The Marquis de Rocheguyon 
had no dowry to give his daughter. 

She, I believe, protested against the marriage and 
told my father that she had no love for him. But her 
beauty had so thoroughly enslaved him that he would 
hear of no refusal. Aided by her father he overcame 
all her objections, and she became his wife. In spite 
of all the wealth and even tenderness my father lav- 
ished on her she was far from happy, and after my 
birth she was never strong. She died when I was two 
years old, and my father returning to the United 
States I was left to the Marquis, my maternal grand- 
father, of course with an ample allowance for my edu- 
cation. He promptly dispatched me with my nurse 
to the old chateau of the Rocheguyons in Provence, 
and there, with no companions but the children of the 
peasants, and no one save the servants who were my 
slaves, I passed my early childhood. 

“Your slaves?” observed Miss Vernon, severely. 
“ And so you grew up a regular little tyrant, I suppose, 
with no one to thwart your desires, and no mental dis 
cipline of any sort.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 4 1 

“Pretty nearly that,” I laughed. 

My father, returning to France after I had passed 
my eighth birthday, found to his dismay that he had 
for his son the wildest little savage imaginable. After 
a week’s careful study he discovered that beyond being 
able to whip every boy not over twelve years old in 
the community, to ride any horse for miles about, to 
tell him stories of the dead Rocheguyons and grand 
Napoleon^" and to fence very creditably for a child, I 
had absolutely no education. 

This he at once took measures to remedy. I was 
taken to England and placed at school. Until I was 
sixteen I studied, played, and fought my way with the 
young Britons who were my companions. 

I told Miss Vernon plenty of the schoolboy triumphs 
and escapades of those days, and would have told her 
more, for she listened with rapt attention. But in the 
midst of my talk there came to my ears the distant 
rat-tat-tat of the first drum for dinner formation, and 
with an exclamation of rage I leaped to my feet. 

“ What’s the matter? ” my startled companion cried. 
“ Has a bug or anything bitten you? ” 

“ No, but I’ve got to leave you immediately. 
There’s the drum for dinner and I’m sure of a ‘late,’ 
but I must run for it anyway. You’ll have to excuse 
me and get back to the hotel alone. Good bye.” 

And away I ran, leaving Miss Vernon gazing after 
me in angry astonishment. In spite of the fact that I 
was a good runner I failed to make the area in time 
for the second drum. And the name “ Bellhurst ” 
was down on the “skin-list” next night, the report 
being “ late at formation for dinner.” 


CHAPTER V. 

“are ye a fool or a villain?” 

The enterprise for which Teddy Callahan had be- 
sought my services on that afternoon was the “drag- 
ging ” of some ‘ ‘ boodle ” into the barracks. ‘ ‘ Boodle, ” 
in the language of the cadets, signifies anything eat- 


42 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


able, drinkable, or smokable forbidden by the regula- 
tions. 

It was the custom of the purveyors of contraband 
goods to come down the river from Newburg in row- 
boats, and havipg arrived opposite West Point to pull 
in close to the shore and then drift slowly along until 
they were signaled by the cadets, who, having been 
previously warned, were sure to be on the lookout. 

So it came about that Teddy, Ray Harding, and my- 
self had stretched ourselves out by the river bank to 
wait in patience for the arrival of the boat we ex- 
pected. All of us had pipes and tobacco, and soon 
three fragrant clouds were rising on the air, while we 
lazily watched the rings of smoke fade away into the 
atmosphere. 

“By the way, though, what was the matter with little 
Miss Rowell this morning ?” asked Harding. “ I went 
up to her after you carried off Miss Vernon and 
wanted her to walk, but she would not hear of it. 
Said she was ill, and must go to her room. She did 
look awfully white, and her eyes seemed to me as if 
they’d be the better for a good long cry. Did she say 
she was feeling unwell while you were with them. 
Jack ? ” 

“ Probably she caught a headache from the sun. It 
got hot early this morning, you may remember,” I 
answered carelessly. Miss Rowell’s illness was, of no 
moment to me, save for a slight regret that such a 
pretty little thing should suffer pain. I puffed out a 
volume of smoke as I lay on my back with my forage- 
cap tilted over my eyes, and began to think of Miss 
Vernon. The interest she had shown as she listened 
to the stories of myself that I had told her flattered 
me, and I began to feel that I was more than half in 
love with her. Surely any man might burn to call so 
magnificent a woman his own. What a mistress she 
would make at Bellhurst! 

Teddy and Ray carried on a fragmentary conversa- 
tion, occasionally appealing to me in their talk. But 
they got nothing from me but short grunts of approval 
or dissent. The question of having Miss Vernon for 
my own had brought back to my mind the plans of 
my father, and I was wondering what he would say if 


43 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


he knew that my thoughts were beginning to run 
seriously on a woman other than the one he had 
selected for me. 1 chuckled to myself as I wondered 
if the Hon. John would be able to preserve unruffled 
the calm demeanor which he took pride in saying had 
characterized his father before him. 

“ Bedad, it’s old Uncle Apollo!” cried Teddy, inter- 
rupting my musings. “Wake up, and get the plunder 
out of the skiff!”. For the Irishman’s eyes had caught 
sight of a boat stealing cautiously along under the 
shadow of the trees that hung over the water. Its 
occupant was the servant of the Newburg landlord 
from whom Teddy’s “spread” had been ordered. 
Callahan promptly sprang into sight of the old darky 
and waved his handkerchief, a proceeding that brought 
the boat quickly to the shore. We knew the old 
negro well, having met him on many similar occasions 

“Howdy, Massa Callahan; howdy, Massa Bellhurst ; 
howdy, Massa Hardin!” He grinned, showing his 
white ivories in recognition. “ Fo’ Gaud de day am 
mosFpow’ful wahm! If it hadn’ been dat I knowed it 
was fo’ you all gemmen dat Massa Gawge tole me to 
load dis heah batteau, I sweah to Gaud, ole ’Polio 
nevah would a lifted oah.” 

As he gabbled away Uncle Apollo was rapidly un- 
loading his boat, and his task was soon complete. 
Then, happy in the gift of half a dollar to buy beer 
when he reached Newburg, he seized his oars again 
and his quick, dexterous strokes soon took him out of 
sight. 

As for us, we proceeded to dispose of the things he 
had brought. The boxes containing the chicken and 
other eatables we carried up the hill and hid in the 
bushes near the road that runs along its erect There 
they would have to remain until after dark, when they 
could be carried across the plain into barracks with 
impunity. Besides the viands there were half a dozen 
bottles of champagne, a flask of whisky, and a bottle 
of brandy. Also there was a box of cigars. These 
last we promptly bestowed in our sleeves, preventing 
their falling out by stuffing handkerchiefs carefully 
around the inside of the cuffs. 

As it took three trips before the last bottle was 


44 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


safely housed in our room there was scarcely an hour 
left of the afternoon before parade. This hour I em- 
ployed in walking about with the governor, who seemed 
quite pleased with his morning stroll in Mrs. Wray- 
burn’s company. He pronounced her a charming 
woman, and advised me to see a good deal of her; 
contact with so bright a mind as hers was sure to ben- 
efit me. As I was of somewhat the same opinion in 
this particular case I decided to follow his advice. 

In accordance with my determination, I was at the 
hotel hedge before half-past seven o’clock that even- 
ing. Having no “permit ” to go to the hotel, I was 
compelled to wait there for Mrs. Wrayburn, the garden 
of the hotel and the building itself not being included 
in cadet limits. But I was not kept waiting long. 
The lady had marked my coming from the porch, and 
joining me promptly we proceeded up the road toward 
the infantry plain, where, in front of the Command- 
ant’s quarters, the band had already commenced its 
concert. 

The iron benches along the path were well filled, but 
there was no lack of available places for sitting down. 
Mrs. Wrayburn, however, preferred to walk, and for a 
time we strolled slowly back and forth along the path, 
exchanging greetings with our numerous acquaintances 
of both sexes, and occasionally stopping to listen to 
the music. 

It had grown dark when she said to me, suddenly 
breaking in on my account of the doings of the after- 
noon: 

“ I’m tired of this. The music is too near to us, I 
think, to be really appreciated. Cannot we go over 
on Trophy Point and sit down ? Surely, that will be 
far nicer than this.” 

“I am at your command, as always,” I replied, 
and we turned our steps toward Trophy Point. As 
we passed a group in which were several people we 
knew, a feminine voice called out: 

“Fie, Mrs. Wrayburn! Tired of this beautiful mu- 
sic so early ? ” 

“ Not tired, my dear, but unwell. My head is both- 
ering me, and I am making poor Mr. Bellhurst lose 
the music while he takes me back to the hotel.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


45 


We went on, and were soon standing under the trees 
on the edge of Trophy Point, whence we could see, 
even in the darkness, the glimmer of the broad Hud- 
son, the towering heights of Cro’ Nest, and beyond, 
against a backgronnd of gloomy mountains, the lights 
of Newburg. 

“ There’s a bench here unoccupied,” I said to my 
fair companion. 

“I believe I’ll sit on the grass, Jack. No dew has 
fallen. Feel, it’s perfectly dry. ” And throwing her 
shawl upon the sward Mrs. Wrayburn placed herself 
upon it, adding: “You may sit here close to me, 
there’s room enough for two, and I wouldn’t have you 
spoil those spotless trousers you’re wearing for any- 
thing.” 

“You’re very good,” I answered, stretching myself 
on the shawl at her side and resting on my right 
elbow. 

“See that you are the same, sir, and give me no 
cause to repent of my kindness,” smiled back the fair 
lady. “But I don’t mean that, either, for I know 
that you would never do anything that could anger 
me. Will you have a cigarette, Jack ? ” she con- 
tinued, drawing a small beaded case from her corsage. 
“I’hey’re very good, my cigarettes, and you are sure 
to like them.” 

I accepted the cigarette, lighted it from a little 
silver tinder-box that she carried, and gratefully in- 
haled the smoke. It was good, there was no mis- 
taking that. The tobacco had a foreign, druggy taste, 
though, that I have sirce thought may have been due 
to a mixture with hashish. Certainly it soothed one’s 
nerves wonderfully and disposed one to sensuous 
houghts. 

“ How did you and my governor get on this morn- 
ing ? ” I asked after smoking silently for a few sec- 
onds. “ I suppose he bored you no end during your 
walk, didn’t he ? ” 

“Far from it,” she answered. “Your father is a 
very delightful old gentleman, and has a store of 
anecdotes and experiences that he relates in a wonder- 
fully entertaining way. I wonder if you will be as nice 
as he is when you are old. Jack.” 


46 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“Much nicer, I’m sure,” I said promptly. “At 
least, if I have a son, I won't make him miserable by 
trying to force him into following a course in life that 
he doesn’t relish.” 

“But why shouldn’t you be content to leave the 
army, Jack?” Mrs. Wrayburn said slowly. “Your 
father told me that he did not insist upon your follow- 
ing any profession or business if you did not wish it. 
He said that he would give you an ample allowance, 
and you might live as you pleased and where you 
pleased, if you would only obey him in this case of re- 
turning to civil life and one other matter. Think of it, 
Jack, what a jolly good time you could have! You 
could spend your time abroad if you wished. You 
know what Paris and London are. You’d move in the 
best set over there, and anything that money can buy 
you’d have. When you tired of Europe, Washington 
and New York would remain to you. Think what a 
contrast life in the army presents 1” 

“ Yes, I know very well what I could do and how I 
could live,” I answered grimly. “ I could go abroad, 
and I know lots of chaps in London and more in Paris 
and Madrid. I could pass my nights at balls, and at 
the opera, my mornings in bed, my afternoons in the 
Park or the Bois. I could spend lots of money at rac- 
ing and the card-table, or on the girls of the ballet, as 
the men I know over there do. I’ve got a fine consti- 
tution, and I think Ld stand the life better than most. 
But it doesn’t suit me. Give me men to control and 
maneuver and I’m happy. I’d rather have a commis- 
sion in the U. S. Cavalry than every dollar my gov- 
ernor owns, if I had to choose. And then, I suppose, 
I’d quarrel with my wife.” 

“ Your wifet'' said Mrs. Wrayburn in rather sharper 
tones than were natural to her. “ Who spoke of your 
having a wife ?” 

“ Oh, the governor didn’t tell you then ? I thought 
he had fully confided in you from the way you spoke 
But it doesn’t matter, though, your knowing. Yes, he 
wants me to marry at once ; in fact, he has the girl 
picked out and ready for me. But I’m not married 
yet.” 

“ Don t do it. Jack ! Don’t marry without love, for 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


47 


if you do, you’ll regret it bitterly, over and over 
again,” Mrs. Wrayburn said solemnly. “You may not 
feel it now, but some day you will know that love is the 
dearest, most priceless treasure one can possess, and 
that nothing can make up for the want of it. Wealth, 
fame, honor, what are they all compared with love ? 
Worthless, Jack, I assure you. And if any one can 
know that, I should be the one. For I know what a 
hell is contained in a loveless marriage.” 

“I didn’t mean to trespass on your confidence, I 
assure you,” I said as Mrs. Wrayburn stopped. For 
the conversation might get beyond control pres- 
ently, I thought, if it continued in this strain. 

“I know that I can trust you. Jack, and that’s why 
I’ve told you this. Give me a light from your cigar- 
ette, won’t you, mine has gone out.” She moved 
closer to me and put up her cigarette, still in her 
mouth, to mine. While she lighted, her body was rest- 
ing against my chest, and siie did not withdraw her- 
self when her cigarette was again burning. 

“You don’t know what it is. Jack, to have to live 
with a person you do not love. Of course I did not 
mind it much at first, for I was married very young 
and had never known what love is. But I know now, 
and oh! Jack! it is so cruel tp think that I never met 
the man to whom I could sacrifice everything until it 
was too late. ” 

“ I wouldn’t think that way about things if I were 
you,” I said, soothingly “You’ve lots to make your 
life by no means a hard one; I’m sure there’s hap- 
piness in store for you some day.” And I talked on 
and on in this strain, while Mrs. Wrayburn listened, 
her shoulder pressing against my chest. 

As I talked I was aware that my voice was becom- 
ing thicker and my breath seemed to be drawn with 
more and more difficulty. Still I kept on talking, 
while my companion pressed more heavily against 
me. I could hear the throb of her heart, I fancied, 
and her breath was coming and going in hurried, 
though soft, inhalations. I had been looking out 
toward the river, and I now kept my eyes fixed there. 
All at once I felt a mass of perfumed hair brush my 
cheek and Mrs. Wrayburn’s head fell on my shoulder. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I turned my eyes to hers. They were shining through 
half-closed eyelids with a maddening, phosphorescent 
gleam in them that made the blood leap like fire in my 
veins. Before I could speak her arms were thrown 
suddenly about my neck, her stormy bosom beat 
against my broad chest, and her lips glued themselves 
to mine in a long, clinging, passionate caress. 
And I will confess that I lost my head and forgot all 
except the woman who lay in my arms. I gave full 
rein to the fiery passions that kindled in me all too 
easily. Crushing her in my embrace I showered 
fierce, burning kisses upon her lips. 

How long we were there I never knew. The notes 
of tattoo brought me back to my senses at last, and 
hastily escorting Mrs. Wrayburn to the hedge I raised 
my cap and plunged away into the dark toward the 
lights of the barracks, reeling and staggering as I ran 
like one who has drunk deeply of some strong wine. 
And so, indeed, I had. 

* * Hs 

As “inspector of subdivision”! made my rounds 
at “ taps ” that night as usual. But my brain was in 
a whirl, and though I threw open the door of each 
room with the customary .sharp query, “All in, sir?” 
and flashed my dark-lantern upon the beds in the dif- 
ferent alcoves, the answering “ All in, sir !” conveyed 
no meaning to me. When I reported to the Offi- 
cer of the Day that all was well in my subdivision I 
did it mechanically, for I could not have sworn to the 
truth of my report. 

Once back in my room, however, I managed to 
regain command of my brain. 1 sat in, silence 
and watched Teddy, who was busily preparing by the 
light that, as cadet-lieutenants, we were entitled to 
burn until half-after ten o’clock, the blankets he in- 
tended to hang over the window as soon as the room 
was dark. As we were to go into camp the next day 
Teddy’s spread was to come off that night. And the 
blankets over the window were a most important fac- 
tor in the feast, for they were to prevent any gleams 
of light from our room meeting the eyes of chance 
officers who might happen to pass the barracks. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


49 


Teddy moved about briskly, but with little noise. 
And by the time he had placed the blankets so that 
they could be easily raised and fastened over the win- 
dow, and arranged the viands whereon we intended to 
feast upon a table he had formed in the middle of the 
room by joining the two small ones furnished the 
room for purposes far different, half-past ten had 
come and our light was promptly extinguished. 

We had an hour of waiting before us, for it would 
not be safe for the other fellows to venture from their 
rooms until the lynx-eyed Officer of the Day was safely 
abed in his quarters. Tactical officers we had no 
need to be on the lookout for that night, a big dinner 
being in progress at the officers’ mess. 

And while we are waiting for the other men to 
arrive, let me say a few words about my roommate. 

He was the son of a New York policeman, and his • 
appointment to West Point had come through the 
“boss” of the political party to which his father be- 
longed. There had been several applicants for the 
cadetship, but luck had smiled on Callahan, as he in- 
formed me, by enabling him to rescue the pet pug of 
the “ boss’s wife ” when attacked by “ Hugh Durkin’s 
bull-terrier.” At the time he had been employed at 
“ McClancy’s grocery,” and though he promptly left 
off work as soon as he was named as a candidate and 
studied night and day, he had had but a few months’ 
preparation and feared failure. 

There was something in Teddy’s smile and merry 
eyes that made my heart warm toward him as I saw 
him when he came up for examination before admis- 
sion to the Academy. And when he told me of his 
lack of time for thorough preparation to pass the ex- 
aminations I offered to give him all the help I could in 
the two or three days that must pass before we were ex- 
amined. We worked hard together, and I found him 
bright and wonderfully quick to comprehend. Before 
the examinations were over I had made up my mind that 
in event of his failure, I would give my father no rest 
until he had had Teddy reappointed. And when I 
told Teddy of my resolve his gratitude was boundless. 

Happily, he did not fail, and there was no need for 
the Hon. John Bellhurst’s services. But Teddy always 


50 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


swore that his passing was due to my help. We roomed 
together in “beast-barracks,” occupied the same tent 
in “plebe camp,” and by the time the corps went back 
to barracks in the fall we had agreed not to separate 
while we were cadets. The three years we had spent 
together had cemented a friendship of the sort that 
you can find only among the men of West Point. 

College friendship may be warm, but there is noth- 
ing like the feeling that the men who are cadets in the 
same class have for each other. I know that Teddy 
would have unhesitatingly given me his last dollar 
on earth, the last rag of clothes from his back, and the 
last drop of blood in his body, and that I would have 
done the same for him. 

His three years at the Academy had greatly changed 
him from what he was when I first saw him. Scarcely 
a trace of his Irish brogue was left. Though still 
long and weedy- looking, he was graceful and well “set 
up,” and all said that he had in him the making of a 
rattling good officer. He had not grown handsome in 
the face; but for all that there were few men more 
popular with the fair sex than Teddy. Only one per- 
son did I know who failed to recognize his worth, and 
that was the Hon. John, my father. He disliked 
Teddy from the beginning, and I think his feeling was 
cordially reciprocated. 

Ray Harding, Jim Van Horn, and Garham wer# the 
other men invited to Teddy’s feast that night, and in 
due time they came gliding noiselessly into the room. 
Candles were lighted and the fried chicken, sand- 
wiches, pickles, pies, cake, etc., were eaten to the last 
crumb. The champagne was not spared either, but no 
one grew hilariously gay, for we were used to such lit- 
tle spreads, and our heads were pretty hard ones. As 
there would be no inspection of the room next day, we 
were free to smoke, and we had cigars and cigarettes 
in plenty. So we had a glorious time, told numerous 
witty tales in whispers, greeting their comical endings 
with smothered bursts of laughter, and even tried two 
or three subdued songs. The feast ended at last, 
though, and the other men stole back to their quarters. 

Jack, said Teddy (we had thrown ourselves 
on our beds, leaving the “remnants of the fray” to be 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


51 


cleaned up next morning), “Jack, are ye sleepy?” 

“No, not particularly,” I answered. “I reckon 
the champagne I drank has made me wakeful. Why, 
is there any kind of devilment you’re up to to-night? ” 

“Devilment be hanged! No! But if you’re not 
sleepy I’ve a few things to ease my mind of, and the 
sooner the better, I think. Do ye mind ?” 

“Let her go,” I said, stretching myself out luxuri- 
ously, and clasping my hands behind my head. “I’m 
listening, so commence firing.” 

“Well then. Jack,” he said, coming over to my 
alcove, and sitting down on the foot of my cot, “ I want 
to talk to ye about the Wrayburn woman. I want to 
know what her game with ye is, and I want to ask ye 
what your game is with her ? ” 

I came up to a sitting position with a jerk. 

“Well, that’s devilish cool, I must say. Look here, 
Teddy, why should you imagine there’s anything up 
at all in that quarter ? And if there is — mind, I don’t 
say there is — but if there is, don’t you think I’m able 
to run it without any help ? ” 

“That’s just the point, Jack, old man,” he an- 
swered slowly. “I don’t say ye need help, for ye 
generally help yourself to whatever ye want. But I 
do say that ye need warnin’. I took little Miss Rowell 
back to the hotel to-night, and we walked around the 
path on Trophy Point. I saw ye both there. Jack, and 
I knew ye despite the darkness. Her arms were round 
your neck, and her head was on your shoulder, and 
you — by God! Jack Bellhurst, if any man in the corps 
had told me that of ye I’d have torn his tongue out! 
I said nothing of this before the fellows came, for I 
wished the spread to be a success. But now I ask ye. 
Jack, what does it mean ? Plainly, are ye a damned 
scoundrel, like some we know of in the corps, or are 
ye only a fool ? ” 

“I’m sure you give me a pleasant choice of names, 
Teddy,” I said with a hard laugh. “Why should 
you think me either ? ” 

“Because ye are one or the other. Jack. If ye brought 
that about purposely, ye’re the first. If it was her 
doing, which I hope to God it was, the second’s a fit 
name for ye. ” 


52 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Did Miss Rowell see us, too?" I asked. 

“She did not. I saw ye before she had a chance, 
and got her eyes on the barracks by talkin’ of the 
lights in the windows and tryin’ to point out our 
room, and kept her so till we were safe by. But, 
Jack, my question’s not been answered.’’ 

“Oldman,"! said, slowly. “ To tell you the truth, 
1 can’t answer, for I don’t know. I’m afraid I’ve not 
acted honorably to-night, but I swear there was no 
premeditation about it. I don’t like to call myself by 
either name, but if I’ve been either I’ve been more of 
a fool than a villain. And I might have done much 
more than I did." 

“And now comes another thing I want to know. 
Answer me truly. Jack; are ye going to carry it on, 
now you’ve begun?" 

“No, old man. I’m not," I said, decidedly. “I’ve 
done a lot of thinking since taps, and I’m through 
with her." 

“Thank Heaven! But what will ye do wjth Mrs. 
Wrayburn?" Teddy said, in a puzzled voice. “Ye 
can’t drop her entirely without causin’ the boys to do 
considerable talkin’." 

“That’s all right enough. The governor will be 
here for two days more, and you’ll help me out after 
he’s gone, I know." 

“That I will. Gad! Jack, what a pair of allies ye 
have! The Hon. John Bellhurst and Cadet Terence 
Callahan. Sure the two of us can beat the world. 
Here, get out the flask and we’ll have a good long pull 
to the health of your supporters. May their shadows 
never be less ! ’’ 

And we let it gurgle. 


CHAPTER VI. 

TOLD BY A KISS. 

The battalion went into camp next day, marching 
over from barracks and taking possession of the tented 
company streets at eleven o’clock. Guard, of course, 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


53 


had been mounted as usual and the chain of sentinels 
that was to inclose the camp until its breaking up on 
the thirty-first of August was already posted, though 
we first-classmen were allowed to leave camp at any 
time between reveille and tattoo not conflicting with 
our duties, and enjoyed the privileges of “cadet- 
limits.” 

During the second trip Teddy and I made from bar- 
racks that morning, one of the waiters from the hotel 
came up to me and delivered a note from Mrs. Wray- 
burn. It was written on heavy, scented paper and ran 
as follows : 

“I found a telegram waiting me at the hotel last night, and 
must leave on the first boat to-day for New York. Mr. Wray- 
burn is seriously ill. Can. you meet me for a moment on the 
path behind the hotel to say good-by ? Come if you can, Jack, 
for I must see you before I go. I inclose a pencil that you 
may answer. Use the other half of the sheet. Violet. 

I took my pencil, and tearing off the unused half of 
the paper, wrote simply: 

“Impossible. On duty." 

Handing the missive addressed to Mrs. Wrayburn to 
the darky, I told him to hurry back to the hotel. 
Then I slowly tore the note into little pieces and scat- 
tered them over the cavalry plain. 

“From Mrs. Wrayburn, Jack?” queried Teddy 
over his shoulder as he walked on, bearing the forward 
end of the stretcher. 

“Yes,” I said shortly. “Just a .farewell. She 
goes to New York on the early boat.” 

“ May she stay there and never come back, and the 
saints protect her ! ” said Callahan, piously. “ I’m in- 
fernally glad she’s going.” 

“Same here, old chap,” I returned gayly. “It 
saves me no end of a mess, I suppose, and I’m glad to 
be out of it ” 

The Hon. John Bellhurst also took his departure 
that evening. Before he left he was good enough to 
inquire if I had considered the proposals he had made 
to me, and if I were ready to give him an answer. 

“ My dear father. I’ve really not had time to decide,” 
I told him. V This matter requires serious thought. 


54 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


So if you’ll let it stand over until your next visit to me 
you’ll favor me greatly.” 

With this reply the Hon. John had to be content. 
But he left West Point somewhat comforted, I be- 
lieve, by my assurance that I would carefully con- 
sider the idea of leaving the army. Before this I had 
always turned such a deaf ear to his commands and 
entreaties that my present attitude was really gratify- 
ing to him. 

That night in our tent I discussed the whole affair 
with Teddy Callahan. I told him all that my father 
had said, the generous offers he had made me his 
plans — matrimonial and otherwise — and then asked 
my chum what he would do were he in my place. 

Teddy raised himself on his elbow as he lay stretched 
on the tent floor — it was after taps and we were ready 
for sleep — and puffed reflectively for a few seconds at 
a cigarette he had just lighted. 

“What would I do?” he said at length. “What 
would I do if my father were rich as yours and made 
me such offers ? Is it that ye’re askin’ me. Jack?” 

“Yes, of course,” I replied impatiently. “Put 
yourself in my place and give me your honest opinion 
of what I ought to do. No fooling now, mind you. 
I’m in earnest in asking your advice.’’ 

Teddy laughed. “ It’s small use for me to give ye 
any advice. Jack,” he said slowly, “for ye well know 
that ye’ve made up your mind and will follow your own 
decision, whether mine agrees with it or not. But 
Jack, if ye take his offer ye’ll not be happy. I know 
ye too well to believe that ye could live contented 
with a woman picked out for ye as the one your 
father offers ye. Sooner or later ye’d meet a woman 
that ye’d love, and then. Jack, life would be a hell to 
ye. Ye’ve never denied yourself much, and if ye 
fancy anything ye know that ye generally manage 
to get it. How would it be in a case like that ? ” 

“Don’t know, I’m sure,” I said reflectively. “I 
never thought of that phase of the question before.” 

“ If ye don’t know, I do, and I’ll tell ye. Ye have 
it in ye. Jack, old man, to be a divil, a divil on a grand 
scale, too.” 

“ Oh come, old chap. I’m not such a tempestuous 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


55 


person as that, am I?” I remonstrated. “Surely 
you’re drawing on your imagination a bit don't you 
think ? ” 

“I am not, but I’ll say no more. .We’ll talk of the 
other part ye can take. Jack, ye were born for a 
soldier. Ye have in ye the making of as good a 
cavalry officer as ever threw leg across a saddle. And 
ye love the life. Ye’d look and ye’d feel far better 
at the head of a platoon with your horse on a run and 
a pack of rascally red-skins to lick the lives out of 
than ye would curvetting your hack in the Bois at 
Paris or the Park at London. What do ye think ? ” 

“You’re sane enough there, old man. I’ll stick to 
Uncle Sam as long as he sticks to me, you can bet any 
odds on that,” I said decidedly, and with* that I dis- 
missed my father’s offer from my mind. I had made 
my decision. Better far to stay and work in the pro- 
fession I adored than to wear the gilded chains of a 
luxurious slavery. 

The first few days of camp seemed to fly on the 
wings of the wind. 

Miss Vernon and Miss Rowell were still at the hotel, 
avowedly for the summer, and Teddy and myself were 
usually their cavaliers in the walks they took, and 
their escorts to the hops and band concerts. Miss 
Vernon liked me to take her down to watch the plebe 
drill, and seemed to find the awkward movements of 
the poor fellows very interesting. 

“ I may be here after they have become upper-class- 
men,” she said, “and it will be well* for me to 
know that I can take any impudence out of them by 
simply recalling to them what I have seen them going 
through in the first stage of their military life.” 

“But we’ve all been through the same routine, Miss 
Vernon,” I suggested. 

“Ah, true! But then I didn’t see you,” she replied, 
laughing. 

Miss Rowell, on the other hand, never went to see 
“ plebe drills ” after her first one. 

“ They look so awfully miserable and uncomfortable. 
I always feel like crying when I look at them, I am so 
sorry for them,” she told me. “ And then I don’t like 
to see men so brutal as those yearling cadets are to 


5 ^ 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


them. Do you know, I liked that Mr. Harrison aw- 
fully well until I saw him at the drill the other day. 
But the way he stormed at those poor, forlorn boys, 
who didn’t dare to say a word back, made me posi- 
tively hate him. ” 

I laughed. Harrison was a yearling corporal, and 
a good one, too. The “plebes” who hated him now 
would respect and admire him when they had finished 
their first year at the Point. But when I told Miss 
Rowell so she shook her head in denial. 

“ I don’t believe it, Mr. Bellhurst. I know if I 
were a ‘ plebe ’ I would always hate a man who yelled 
‘ hep ’ ! as Mr. Harrison does. And when he shouts 
‘ Get your shoulders back, mister ! ’ I just want to hit 
him, I feel so angry.” 

With this the fair one looked daggers at the martinet 
Harrison, flushing at the same time very prettily. 

Old Mr. Vernon was nominally at West Point with 
his daughter and niece, but managed to spend the 
greater part of the week in New York, He would 
run down to the city on Monday or Tuesday morning, 
and almost invariably a telegram would come for Miss 
Evelyn stating the fact that he would not return that 
night and could not be certain when he might come 
back. His room was reserved for him, though, and 
he always occupied it over Sunday. I managed to 
put myself on quite friendly terms with the old fellow 
by devoting myself to him for several walks about the 
place. For all his abrupt manner at first he was a 
very good sOrt when one got to know him. He 
seemed to think his daughter perfectly able to take 
care of herself. And to do her justice, she was. So 
he never seemed to notice, or if he did notice never 
seemed to care, that all of Miss Evelyn Vernon’s 
walks finally came to be made in company with Cadet 
Bellhurst, that the said cadet invariably made out 
her hop-card, and was her escort to all of the band 
concerts. Cadet Bellhurst, for his part, boldly sought 
the society of Miss Vernon, heedless of the joking 
remarks of his brother first-classmen, and unmindful 
of the covert gossip that began to circulate among the 
members of the fair sex who graced the post. 

The month of June passed, and July came with its 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


57 


sudden return to the fatiguing routine of daily drills. 
But every available moment of the day I managed to 
spend in Miss Vernon’s society. By this time we were 
quite old friends. She called me “Jack,” and lad- 
dressed her as “Evelyn.” We had exchanged con- 
fidences, and knew the greater part of each other’s 
histories. 

Despite the fact that I was continually with her, I 
had never ventured one word of love to her, and sel- 
dom even hinted at a compliment. The girl seemed 
above that. 

She was beautiful and talented, and one felt that she 
knew it as well as you did, and that there was no 
occasion for telling her so. In her conversations with 
me there was nothing of the soft and sentimental. 
She told me the story of her life little by little. How 
she had come into the world the daughter of a strug- 
gling gold-seeker on the Pacific coast. How she had 
lived about the mining camps until she was well on 
into girlhood, when her father had made his lucky 
strike. Then from a life of hardship and poverty they 
had suddenly sprung to one of ease and plenty. Luck 
once smiling on Vernon had been lavish with her 
favors. Everything he attempted turned out far be- 
yond his expectations, and his wealth rolled up into 
the millions. Fashionable boarding-school, several 
years’ association with refined and cultured members 
of her own sex, and a finishing four of Europe had 
been the consequences as far as his daughter had been 
concerned. Alys Rowell, her cousin, whose father had 
been old Vernon’s partner at the time of his luck, had 
been given the same educational advantages. Her 
uncle had adopted her on the death of her father, who 
had been shot in a dispute over a game of cards soon 
after his becoming a man of wealth. All these facts 
and many more I gathered piece by piece, for Miss 
Vernon never gave me a detailed story of her life. 

The busy, hot days of July flew faster if anything 
than the idle ones of June. 

It was a hot July morning and Evelyn and myself 
were sitting in the shade of a small clump of 
trees upon the grassy ramparts of old Fort Putnam. 
Being on “ old guard privileges ” until one o’clock, I 


S8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


had agreed with Miss Vernon to walk up to the old 
fort that morning, and a hot, dusty climb of it we had 
had. At the summit, however, we had found somewhat 
of a breeze and were now fairly cool and able to 
converse amiably without reference to the sultry con- 
dition of the weather. On all sides of us magnificent 
scenery might have claimed our attention ; but our 
eyes, for the moment at least, were riveted on the 
cavalry plain, where the horses of the light battery 
seemed to be crawling along with pieces and caissons 
behind them, though we knew full well that they were 
covering the ground at a rapid gallop. 

“How slowly they seem to move, don’t they?” 
Miss Vernon said. “ From here it looks as if there 
weren’t a bit of energy in the whole battery. And 
yet to the people down there on the seats every man 
and horse is full of life and movement.” 

“You mean that the horse is full of movement, and 
every man is full of dust and perspiration,” I sug- 
gested. “It’s no joke, I assure you, on a day like 
this, to pound up and down that plain on a troop- 
horse with a trot like a camel’s.” 

“It never seems to bother you much,” Miss Vernon 
said critically. “You never look as if you were 
‘ pounding ’ as you call it, but sit your horse as if you 
were part of him. I’ll say this for you. Jack, that 
you’re one of the best riders among the cadets. 
There, don’t thank me, for I don’t mean it to compli- 
ment you. It’s simply a truthful recognition of your 
merit. ” 

“Don’t fear I intended any thanks,” I grinned back 
at her. “ If you’d called me the best^ of course I’d 
have had to get up and make my bow.” 

Miss Vernon did not answer immediately. Her 
eyes remained fixed on the battery, moving on up the 
plain with the dust rolling about it, and swinging 
meanwhile from one formation into another as the 
bugle signals, borne faintly to our ears, informed us. 

“I was just thinking how peaceful all that looks,” 
she said at last, waving her hand toward the distant 
plain. “From here one can’t see the uniforms, and 
the horses are barely distinguishable. They appear to 
plod on so steadily and patiently ! And the can- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


59 


non, if we didn’t know what they were, might seem as 
harmless to us as the same number of common carts. 
They bump along with perhaps a little more noise and 
clatter, but look just as innocent as can be. And yet 
they could hurl men by tens and hundreds into 
eternity in the twinkling of an eye.” 

“Oh, no, they couldn’t,” I said promptly. “ You’re 
far off in that assertion. There are only chiefs of 
platoon and section at the drill and the caissons are 
empty. Without cannoneers and ammunition those 
guns couldn’t hurl any one into eternity, unless they 
lay down in front and let themselves be run over. 
And for that an ox-cart would be more effective by a 
great deal.” 

“You know very well what I mean,” she retorted. 
“And you can’t deny that the most destructive things 
often have an innocent appearance.” 

“ I don’t want to deny it,” I said with a long sigh. 
“It’s too warm for such exertion. I believe that even 
if my governor collared me at this moment and urged 
his pet theories for my future upon me I’d succumb in 
self-defense. Luckily, he’s safe somewhere by the 
sad sea waves. But I’ll wager that if he knew the 
advantage he’d have he’d be at West Point this 
moment.” 

“Does your father take so very much thought for 
your future, then?” queried Miss Vernon, idly. “It 
seemed to me that when he was here in June you and 
he weren’t together much. In fact, I only saw him 
once, walking with that awfully pretty woman who 
dressed so much, and left a day or so after we came. 
What was her name? Woburn, wasn’t it?” 

“Wrayburn, ” I corrected calmly. 

“Yes, Wrayburn; that's it. Well, your father 
seemed to find her society preferable to yours. At 
least I thought so.” 

“You wrong the governor deeply. I can truthfully 
tell you that if I had not fought shy of him he would 
have spent every moment of his stay with me,” 
laughed I. 

“ Natural preference, I suppose. I am glad of it, 
for so few fathers appreciate their sons nowadays.” 

“ And I suppose you mean, also, that very few sons 


6o 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


appreciate their fathers,” was my comment. I m 
not one of them, for I appreciate my governor thor- 
oughly. I expect a visit from him again this month.” 

“Another of his trips with the purpose of bringing 
you back to civil life?” Miss Vernon knew by this 
time of the continual struggle between my father and 
myself. 

“Oh, of course. Nothing but that could bring 
hin, for he has a hatred of things military that would 
make the Point unbearable to him if it were not that 
he has to come here in order to see me.” 

“ I don’t see why he can’t be content to have you 
in the army,” observed Miss Evelyn. “It’s a very 
good profession; an officer has a prestige that of 
course you don’t need, but which is still worth the 
having. Then he ought to consider that you may tire 
of it after a while and be ready to leave it and settle 
down.” 

“That’s just the point it has reached now,” I said. 
^‘Look here, Evelyn, do you believe a parent’s control 
over a child extends to disposing of him or her, as the 
case may be, in marriage ? ” 

“ In 7 narriage'^ What do you mean? I don’t think 
I quite understand,” Miss Vernon said slowly. 

“ Surely my meaning is clear enough, but I will try 
to speak more plainly. Do you believe that a parent 
has a right to come to a son or daughter and say, ‘ you 
are now of an age when I think it proper for you to 
marry. I have carefully looked about me and have 
selected a suitable mate for you. Fulfill my wishes 
and be happy.’ Do you think that a child in such a 
case is bound to follow the desires of a parent?” 

“ Not an American child, you can believe !” she an- 
swered with decision. “ It may be all very well be- 
tween European fathers and children, such commands 
as that, but with us here in the United States I think 
every man and woman has the right to choose for them- 
selves. We are born to freedom, they tell us. If we 
are allowed no voice in the choosing of our partners 
for life, it seems to me that our birthright is taken 
from us. No, I don’t think one is bound to obey a 
parent in such a matter. But why do you ask me, 
Jack ?” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


6l 

“ Because my father has made up his mind that I 
must marry a woman whom he has selected for me. 
Because his next visit, and the visits that will surely 
follow, will be for the purpose of urging me to con- 
form to his views. And because I am determined never 
to give in to him, but to choose the woman with whom 
I must share my good and evil fortune for myself,” I 
answered. 

“ But surely that is no reason why you should ask 
my opinion,” she said, turning her head and gazing up 
the river toward the long range of mountains that 
barred the horizon. “We have grown to know each 
other fairly well, but our acquaintance is but a recent 
one. And what am I to you, or you to me, that you 
should talk to me of such a matter ?” 

“ I have no idea what I am to you,” I said steadily, 
“ but I know well what you are to me. Evelyn, you 
are the one woman in the world whom I love. Ever 
since I met you I have admired you more and more, 
and now I tell you that I love you and ask you to be 
my wife. I know that I have little to offer you, but 
what little I have is yours, if you will have it. And 
believe me, when I say it, a love as firm and strong as 
mine you will rarely find. I love you passionately and 
devotedly ; no woman has ever been to me what you 
are. If you wish time for consideration, tell me so 
and I will wait for my answer until any period you may 
set has elapsed. But I want you to believe me when I 
say that I love you. You do believe that, don’t you ?” 

She turned her face toward me and I saw that it had 
grown pale. But her large brown eyes looked into 
mine with a penetrating gaze. 

“ Believe it ? ” she said, calmly. “ And why should 
I believe it ? You are not the first man that has said 
such things to me. All of them swore by all that was 
sacred that the things they said were true. And yet I 
I never believed them. Why should I treat you any dif 
I ferently ? Can you tell me that ? ” 

1 “ Because my tale to you is true,” I answered vehe- 

mently. “ I would not say it if I did not feel it. You 
are the only woman to whom I have ever said ‘ I love 
, you.’ 1 may have many faults, but I have the family 
virtue. We Bellhursts are not liars. When I say to 


62 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


you that I love you I tell you the truth, pure and 
simple. I love you. And you know that it is true.” 

“Yes, but why do you love me, Jack'.-* Many 
times I have been forced to listen to this same tale. 
And always the me i whom I asked could tell me 
why I was made to be loved. How is it with 
3 ou ? Can you tell me what you can see in me that 
has moved your love ? ” 

“Can I tell you why I love you ?” I said. “Can I 
tell why the moon was placed in the heavens, why 
the grass is green and not blue or some other color, 
why I, Jack Bellhurst, was born a man and not a 
woman ? No, I can no more tell you why I love 
you than I can explain why I know that there exists a 
divine, supreme Being who directs the whole of the 
universe He has created. All I can tell you is this: 
/ love you. Is not that enough for me to say ? ” 

“It is enough. And I believe you. Jack. I be- 
lieve that you speak honestly and from the bottom 
of your heart. I put faith in what you say because 
you cannot tell me the reason for your love. No 
other man has ever owned as much to me.” 

“And you ?” I said, and my voice was growing thick 
with suppressed passion. “How is it with you, Eve- 
lyn ? Must I wait, or shall I have my answer now ?” 

“Are you so very impatient, then. Jack ?” she said, 
while a smile full of mockery played about her firm, 
red lips. “Remember Napoleon’s maxim, ‘Every- 
thing comes to him who knows how to wait,’ and give 
me a little time, I beg of you. I haven’t had a pro- 
posal for fully three months, and have almost for- 
gotten the sensation. Give me time to recover from 
the shock you gave me, won’t you ? ” 

“ I told you I would wait for my answer for any 
time you chose,” I reiterated. “Only I will ask you to 
be merciful. I have been frank with you, be frank 
with me.” 

“I will. Jack. But honestly, I must have time to 
think this over, and perhaps to talk about it with father. 
I must sift my feelings to the very bottom, you see, 
Jack. I don’t mind telling you that I have liked you 
from the first, and that I really care a great deal 
for you. But whether I love you as a woman should 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


63 


love the man she is to marry I cannot tell. For, be 
certain of this, I will never wed a man whom I do not 
thoroughly love. ” 

“ Nor would I urge you to marry me if you could 
not love me,” I said stoutly. “As you wish it, I 
will give you time. But I hope that you’ll give 
me the same amount of dances as usual to-night. I 
assure you I won’t bring this up again until vou speak • 
of it.” 

“ Of course you may have as many dances as I al- 
ways give you. But now get up and help me to rise, 
for I must go back to the hotel. Give me your hand, 
sir, and aid a poor, weak woman to her feet.” 

She laughed as she grasped my extended palm in 
her strong fingers and rose lightly from the turf. 

“ Do you know, Jack, I believe you pressed my 
hand somewhat harder than usual that time,” she said, 
critically extending her fingers. “ I hope I’m mistaken, 
but I fancy you gave my hand a slight squeeze. If 
you did, it’s too bad. For one thing I’ve liked most of 
all in you, you don’t endeavor to take small liberties 
with a girl, as most men do. At least you haven’t 
with me. Why haven’t you ? Several men since I’ve 
been here have tried to kiss me. And I shouldn’t have 
been surprised to see you act in the same way. Don’t 
you ever do such things ? ” 

“Don’t know, I’m sure,” I said rather savagely. 
“Any way, as you say, I’ve never tried any ‘spoon- 
ing ’ with you.” 

“ Luckily for you, you haven’t. That sort of thing 
always disgusts me with a man and makes me hate 
him. When a man talks to me, and at the same time 
keeps putting his hands on me, smoothing down my 
dress and trying to take my hands, he always reminds ‘ 
me of a great ape. Many a man has tried to kiss me, 
but I’ve never been kissed yet, and against my will I 
never shall be. ” 

She was standing in front of me, half turned toward 
the path down the mountain. And as she spoke the 
last few words she turned her face over her shoulder 
and swung around confronting me. She paused with 
her head held a little on one side, her tempting mouth 
pursed up invitingly, yet forbiddingly, too, and be- 


64 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


neath the fringe that bordered her eyelids there shone 
a lurking, tempting devil of a smile. 

It was too much for me. My blood coursed in my 
veins like boiling lava, my heart seemed to stand still, 
and my breath came out from my throat in a hoarse 
sob. 

Sang re de Cristo ! I hissed through my closed 
teeth. And as the fierce old Spanish oath burst out I 
caught her in my powerful arms and kissed her full on 
the mouth. Kissed her, in one long, maddening, de- 
lirious moment of passionate possession. Then re- 
leasing her I sprang back a step, and looked her 
straight in the eyes, my lips set in stern defiance. 

She was white, but in a second the blood rushed 
over her face and neck, and she colored to the roots 
of her hair. Her eyes flashed scorn and hatred, as I 
thought, but I never dropped mine for a moment, and 
our looks crossed like hostile rapiers. 

“You dare!” she said. “ You dare treat me like 
that ! You DARE 1” 

“Dare !” I answered with a grim laugh. “You 
madden a man and then you ask if he dares ! I dare 
anything ! Do you not understand that ?” 

She looked at me long and searchingly. Then she 
said slowly: 

“ A few moments ago you told me that you loved 
me, and asked me to be your wife. As you have just 
deliberately offered me insult, I must suppose that you 
have changed your mind. Am I right ?” 

“ No,” I returned, shortly. “I shall still await the 
answer you have promised me. No insult have I offered 
you,” I continued, “for there can be no insult with- 
out intent. ” 

“You still wish for an answer, then?” she said in a 
strange, forced voice. “Well, you will not have to 
wait long for it. Will you do as I ask you without fear 
for one moment ?” 

“ Certainly. You have but to command.” 

“ Then close your eyes and stand perfectly still.” 

“In silence I obeyed. For a second I stood with 
closed eyes. Then a pair of the most magnificent arms 
in the world were thrown tempestuously around my 
neck, a moist, eager mouth was pressed upon my lips. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


65 


and a pair of eyes brimful of love and running over 
with tears beamed into mine. “Oh, Jack! Jack!” 
she sobbed as I caught her to my breast. do love 
you. And I never knew it until you kissed me. But I 
know it now, dear; I know it now!” 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE FAIR LADY IN WIDOW’s WEEDS. 

I NEED hardly say that after that eventful walk I saw 
more, if possible, of Evelyn Vernon than before. 
Every moment that was mine to dispose of I spent 
with her. 

Through the early hours of the hot afternoons, 
while the sun poured down its pitiless rays upon the 
unsheltered encampment, and the majority of the 
corps, stretched half-naked upon the floors of the sun- 
scorched tents, baked and sweltered in fitful periods 
of slumber, we wandered aoout tne shady paths of 
Flirtation and found snug resting places in the leafy 
depths of the woods that hide the famous walk. 

The bench on Gee’s Point knew us well, and the 
little fountain in Kosciuszko’s Garden witnessed our 
mutual caresses. A favorite spot with us was the end 
of the path beyond the spring, looking down upon 
the calvary stables. Here, seated upon the rocks, with 
the mighty river rolling far beneath our feet, we spent 
hour after hour, forgetting, in our infatuation, all else 
save that we two were together, and that we loved 
each other. 

I took her to a hop or a band concert every evening, 
and risked many a late return to camp that I might be 
with her to the last possible moment. I was a fool, if 
you like, but I was happy in my folly. 

I had taken the first opportunity to inform Mr. Ver- 
non of my love for his daughter and request his sanc- 
tion to our engagement. When I had finished the old 
fellow grunted: “ You say you re in love with Evelyn, 
and that you want to marry her, eh ? ” Have you told 
her so ? ” 


66 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I said that I had. 

“And what does she think about the matter? 
Does she want you herself ? 

“So far as I can ascertain, sir, Miss Vernon recip- 
rocates my love for her,” I answered, positively. 

“The devil she does! Whew!” And as the old 
gentleman whistled I could hardly help smiling, for he 
looked comically perplexed, and his action brought to 
my mind the memory of my respected grandfather, 
who was so especially averse to that vulgar mode of 
expressing one’s feelings. 

“ Well, if she wants you, and keeps on wanting you, 
she’ll probably manage to have her way. So I’ve 
nothing to say about it. Mind, I don’t make any 
reflections on you, Mr. Bellhurst, for 1 like you well 
enough. You’re a fine young fellow, and come of one 
of the best families in the country. I don’t much care 
for Evelyn’s marrying a man in the army, but if she’s 
content so am I. Your engagement must not be 
announced just yet, though. That I insist upon, for 
reasons 1 don’t deem it necessary to explain to you.” 

“If you wish it, of course I shall not make our 
engagement public,” I hastened to say. “And I’m 
much obliged to you for your consent.” 

“My consent? Well, yes, you have that and you 
are welcome to it. But look here, Mr. John Bell- 
hurst.” The old man’s voice was low and stern and 
his eyes were gazing savagely into mine. “ That girl 
of mine is one among a million. She’s good enough 
for any man in the world. I give her to you be- 
lieving you to be a gentleman. If you do the fair 
thing by her, you’ll have no better and warmer friend 
than me. If you play her false, or treat her as you 
should not. I’ll make you curse the day you ever saw 
my face. Bear this in mind, and think over it well 
before you take the chances. I mean what I say, you 
can be sure of that.” 

“I’ll take the risk gladly, Mr. Vernon,” I said, 
laughing. There’s my hand on the bargain.” I ex- 
tended my digits. The old man took them with a 
grip that made me wince. 

Miss Vernon had informed Miss Rowell of our en- 
gagement, and the knowledge of it was restricted to 


A PASSING EMPEkOR. 67 

the four of us. For I did not take even Teddy into 
my confidence. 

“ I can’t quite understand Alys, ” Evelyn complained 
to me. “When I told her that you were in love with 
me and that I was going to marry you, she didn’t say 
anything, but went to the window and turned her back 
on me. Presently I discovered that she was crying 
quietly. I asked her why, and then she broke into a 
perfect tempest of sobs, and pouted that it was too 
bad of me to think of marrying and leaving her all 
alone, and that she hated you for wanting to take me 
away from her. You’ve never done anything to anger 
her, have you. Jack? For she seemed very much set 
against you.” 

I had not knowingly given offense to Alys Rowell 
and I told Evelyn as much, adding that I was sorry 
she objected so strongly to me, but that I couldn’t 
help being what I was. Whereupon my sweetheart 
laughed and said she would not have me changed. And 
I — well, you know what I did. 

Thus day after day went by happily. For me it was 
the brightest time in all my life. The governor’s ex- 
pected visit did not materialize. July went by and the 
days of August began to slip away — and still he came 
not. I was happy in the present and full of hope for the 
future. I had no rivals, Evelyn and I never dreamed 
of quarreling, and so were spared those miserable 
periods of doubt that it is the fate of so many lovers 
to undergo, and I was content in my fool’s paradise. 

On the evening of the eighth day of August, however, 

I had what I at first looked upon as a disagreeable 
surprise. I was standing at the hedge waiting for 
Evelyn, in order to escort her, according to my cus- 
tom, to the concert that was to be given on the gen- 
eral parade-ground at the camp. 

A foot sounded upon the walk behind me. But 
instead of Miss Vernon’s divine figure, a tall, 
spare shape clad as usual in irreproachable even- 
ing dress met my eyes, and the calm voice of my 
father made me give a marked start of surprise, as he 
said 

“Good evening, John. I was about to go to the 
camp in quest of you. I suppose you are waiting for 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 




t'le woman of the hour as usual. If you will allow me I 
will keep your watch with you until she comes.” 

As you have so cleverly guessed, I am waiting 
here for a young lady,” I replied, growing very calm 
— after uneasily returning his salute. “I shall be 
charmed to have you with me until she comes.” 

“ You are very good to say so, John,” my father 
•.aid. “If you have no objection would you mind 
favoring me with the name of the lady whom you 
expect? Should I not catch it in the introduction, 
some faux pas on my part might occur during the 
evening. I might address her by the name of one of 
the former ones. ” 

“No objections at all, sir. She is called Miss 
iwelyn Vernon, and her home is in California.” 

“Not the daughter of ‘Lucky’ Vernon, as he is 
known in the West?” The Hon. John’s tone was a 
trifle animated now. “A great belle at Washington 
last winter, wasn’t she? A magnificent creature with 
wonderful auburn hair and the form of a Venus, eh, 
John? I have seen her several times, but was never 
presented to her. I hope it’s the same girl. ” 

“Probably the same, sir,” I answered him. “I 
can’t be positive, but I know that she was in Washing- 
ton last season, and her personal appearance some- 
what resembles your description. As for ‘her father 
I never heard anyone call him ‘Lucky’ Vernon. 
But he has had wonderful favors from Fortune in his 
mining ventures, if report speaks the truth.” 

“Report is generally a liar, as I’ve often told you, 
John. But in the case of the Vernon whom I know 
the stories about his wealth have fallen short of the 
truth. Are you very intimate with his daughter, if I 
may ask?” 

“ Fairly so,” I said indifferently. “ But why should 
that be of any special interest to you, sir? You’ve 
never seemed to bother yourself about my fair friends, 
save to have your joke about them as occasion of- 
fered.” 

“Oh, for no extraordinary reason, my dear boy,” 
said the governor, becoming quite paternal, I thought. 
“Only I have always heard Miss Vernon spoken of 
as a young lady of rare accomplishments. I have 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


69 


no doubt that association with her must be bene- 
ficial to you, John. And I will say that, to my great 
delight, I find a very noticeable change in your 
manner. You seem to me much more of a Bellhurst, 
John, than you were at our last interview. The effec- 
tive manner in which you concealed all symptoms of 
surprise when I came, upon you so unexpectedly this 
evening, has given me great hopes of you.” 

I had no time for acknowledgment of the governor’s 
unwonted compliment, for at this moment Evelyn came 
gracefully down the walk and joined us. 

“Sorry to be late. Jack,” she called out as she ap- 
proached, ^‘but I know you’ll not scold when I ” 

“ Miss Vernon, allow me to present my father, who 
tells me that he has heard much of you and has several 
times seen you in Washington.” 

“ My son neglects to tell you, mademoiselle,” said 
the governor, as he bowed over her extended hand, 
“ that his father esteems it a special stroke of good 
fortune that his chance visit to West Point has given 
him the pleasure of knowing you.” 

“ And I, too, am glad to meet you, Mr. Bellhurst,” 
Evelyn replied, in her most charming manner. “I 
always enjoy knowing men who have helped make 
history.” 

'rhe Hon. John was evidently flattered, and dur- 
ing our slow walk to camp he fairly overflowed with 
witty remarks and courteous compliments. But as we 
neared the guard tents he suddenly stopped and said : 
“ Miss Vernon, I have a request to make that I hope 
you will not think unmannerly. If you will grant it, 
you will deeply oblige me.” 

“Ask whatever you will, Mr. Bellhurst,” Evelyn 
said to him, smilingly, “I shall be only too happy to 
think that there is any favor I can confer upon you.” 

“Then I will presume upon your kindness. Miss 
Vernon. I have come to West Point hurriedly, for the 
purpose of having a few words with my son. 1 must 
leave in the morning. The only time at which I 
can see John is during the concert, to-night. If you 
will allow him to procure a substitute in the person 
of some one of his cadet friends, so that he can talk 
with me for a time, you will do a service to an old 


70 


A PASSING emperor. 


man, who will lose no chance to show you how much 
he appreciates it. ” 

“Of course you must have your chat,” Evelyn said 
at once. “Jack, run ahead and get some man to take 
care of me. I make this reservation, though, Mr. 
Bellhurst, that you release your son in time to take 
me back to the hotel. And also that you talk to me 
for awhile after these baby cadets are safely housed 
for the night. ” 

I cut away immediately, and by the time Evelyn and 
the governor had reached the rows of seats that had 
been placed on the grass for the comfort of the music- 
loving, I had seized upon Ray Harding and given 
my sweetheart into his charge. As soon as we saw them 
comfortably seated I carried a couple of camp stools 
to the visitors’ tent, the governor and I sat down, and 
I waited respectfully for what he had to say to 'me. 

“During my last visit to you, John,” he began at 
once, “ I had the honor to submit for your considera- 
tion certain plans of mine in regard to your future, 
requesting, at the time, a reply before my departure. 
You have had ample time to decide upon my 
offers, and I have come to you to-night for your 
answer. It is necessary that I should know, for several 
reasons, one among which is this. The young lady 
whom I desire you to marry is much sought after, and 
I fear that her hand may be disposed of irrevocably 
should I longer delay completing your engagement. 
Besides, John, you know that it is my fondest wish 
to have you leave the army. I offer you a life that 
few young men would hesitate a moment before ac- 
cepting. Won’t you, for my sake, resign from the 
Academy ? ” 

“You make my course very hard for me father,” 
said I ; for I will confess that the governor had moved 
me more than I thought possible. 

“ If I could follow your will without giving up what 
is dearest to me on earth, I would do so. Trust me, 
I’ll amount to more as a soldier than in any other 
profession. On the threshold of a life in the service I 
don’t wish to turn back. Therefore I must refuse to 
leave the army. I regret to cause you pain, but that 
is my answer.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


71 


The governor said nothing for a moment or two. 
Then he took out a cigar, lighted it, and with no 
trace of anger, or indeed feeling of any sort, in his 
voice, said: 

“Very well. I will not urge you further on that 
point. But your rejection of my first request need not 
necessarily involve the same fate for my second. Now 
I ask you if you will marry ? Of course, the pay of a 
lieutenant is small. But I tell you now that you need 
not fear having to depend on that. You tfiust marry, 
John, and as soon as you can ; for I tremble when 
I think that with you our direct line would cease. 
The Bellhurst estates must not be in danger of 
falling to the collateral branches of the family. What 
have you to say on this point ? ” 

“ As far as marrying goes, sir,” I said with emphasis, 
“I intend to front the minister as soon as I can after 
my graduation.” 

“John, you rejoice my heart,” the governor inter- 
rupted. “ But go on.” 

“I will not, however, be governed in the choice of 
a wife,” I continued. “That matter must rest with 
me. Indeed, I may as well tell you that I have 
already chosen; that I am an engaged man.” 

“You surprise me, John,” The governor’s tone 
was a trifle sarcastic. “And may I know the lady’s 
name ? ” 

“You may. The lady is Evelyn Vernon whom you 
met this evening.” 

“Well, I must say this for you, John, that you 
have done better than any one had a right to expect. 
What! You, a boy still in leading strings — for, say 
what you please, you youngsters here are all mere 
children in the knowledge of the world — to carry off 
the woman some of the cleverest men in this country 
and abroad have sued in vain ! ” 

“ Then you haven’t many objections to my choice, 
sir?” I questioned, amazedly, for I had thought that the 
Hon. John would probably disapprove of my selection 
of a wife. 

“ None serious enough to consider. The lady is not 
overburdened with blue blood, it’s true. But she is a 
magnificent woman, and her children will be a fine 


72 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


race. Have you talked to her father about it? What 
does he say ? ” 

“ Mr. Vernon is agreed to the match, sir, but insists 
that for the present we must keep our engagement a 
secret.” 

“Very well. Is he here at West Point just now ? ” 

“He’s seldom here except over Sunday. I think 
he’s in New York at present.” 

“Then I’ll hunt him up and have a talk with him to- 
morrow. You may return to your lady now, John. 
I’ve seen her casting furtive glances in our direction 
for some time. I’ll be up to see you again in the 
course of a week or two. Good-by, my son. Sug- 
gest to my future daughter that I’ll be on hand for our 
talk to-night without fail.” 

The Hon. John shook my hand warmly before start- 
ing hotelward. Then I went back to Evelyn. 

On the way back to the hotel I told my sweetheart 
what my father and I had said to each other. She was 
much relieved, for she had feared that the Hon. John 
had come to urge the marriage he had planned for me. 
Kissing me good-night at the hedge, she went on to 
her chat with him with a light heart. 

Being officer of the day on the following morning, I 
saw Evelyn for a few moments only, during the in- 
spection of the guard. 

About half-after ten I was sitting in the guard-tent, 
writing several reports against the names of erring 
cadets. I had taken my sword in its scabbard from 
my belt, a habit I had fallen into, and it lay across my 
lap. I wrote busily, and when a shadow fell across the 
sunlit entrance to the tent I did not turn my head. A 
voice, whose accents seemed familiar, made me look up ! 

The next moment I sprang to my feet with a 
bound that sent my sword crashing to the floor. 

A woman dressed in deep mourning stood before the 
guard-tent. Her back was to the light, but her fea- 
tures were distinctly visible. Her gown was of rich 
materials and faultless fit, despite its sad significance. 
Her veil was thrown back and exposed a face that was 
at variance with her funereal attire, for it was beaming 
joyfully at me in glad recognition. 

It was the face of Violet Wrayburn. 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


73 


CHAPTER VIII. 

STOLEN SWEETS AND BITTER ENDING. 

“You!” I Stammered as Mrs. Wrayburn held out 
her little hand to me, a glad smile lighting up her 
countenance. “Who would have thought of seeing 
you here?” 

“I’ve no doubt you are surprised, Mr. Bellhurst. ” 
She used the formal mode of address, I quickly saw, 
because the officer of the guard and the corporal of 
the relief on post were sitting in the tent. “But 
don’t look at me as if I were a ghost, please. I was 
just about to inquire for you, and I’m awfully glad to 
see you. Although you’re on duty, can’t you find 
time to come over to the seats and chat with me for 
a little while? ” 

“Certainly,” I answered, for I thought that if any- 
thing unpleasant were to happen I could gain noth- 
ing by putting it off. “I will join you as soon as 
I have signed my name to these papers.” 

“Good-by for a few moments, then,” she said 
softly, and moved away in the direction of the benches, 
while I began dashing my pen across the paper at a 
reckless speed. 

A moment after, I was seated by Mrs. Wrayburn’s 
side. 

‘•Thank you for hurrying. Jack,” she murmured 
tenderly as T came up. “I have barely had time to 
dispose these dusky draperies of mine to their best 
advantage. I suppose you can read their meaning 
without my telling you for whom I wear them.” 

“ Fairly well, ” I replied. “ When did he die? ” 

“ Four days after I left the Point. He had an 
apoplectic stroke.” 

“ Then you’ve been a widow for nearly two months,” 
was my somewhat uninterested comment. 

“ And two wearier months I’ve never spent. Jack, I 
can tell you that. At last I couldn’t stand it any 
longer, and I determined to come up here and see you 
again. For that was the hard part of it to me. Jack, 
the not being able to see you. I have been so hungry 


74 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


for the sound of your voice, I can’t tell you how 
hungry. I have fairly pined for a look from your 
eyes. I could not stand it a day longer, but just 
had to come here to you. Aren’t you glad to see me, 
Jack?” 

“Of course I’m glad to see you.” I lied with as 
good a grace as I could. “Still, for your sake. I’m 
rather sorry you’ve come. Your husband being so 
lately dead might cause people to talk if they knew 
that you had sent into camp for me.” 

“Let them say what they please, Jack,” she broke 
out impetuously. “ So long as I am happy I care not. 
Oh, Jack, I wish we could go somewhere away from 
this miserable camp. Somewhere where we could be 
alone, and be able to talk without restraint.” 

“We’re alone here for all I can see,” said I, pur- 
posely misunderstanding. “There’s no one else on 
the seats to overhear us If this isn’t solitude, what 
do you call it ? ” 

“ Solitary enough we may be. Jack,” she answered, 
“but n0t free from restraint. Do you remember the 
last time we saw each other. Jack ? The night on 
Trophy Point ? Then we were alone." 

“ We’ll not be able to be alone, as we were then, 
to-day,” commented I. “I’m nailed to the camp 
until guard-mounting is over to-morrow.” 

“ Then I must make the best of my ill-luck, I sup- 
pose,” sighed Mrs. Wrayburn resignedly. “I’ll stay 
here with you as long as I can. This aftejnoon you’ll 
be able to talk to me some of the time, won’t you ? 
And what do they have to-night — a hop or a con- 
cert ? ” 

“A hop,” I said, miserably; for I knew what was 
going to follow. 

“A hop! Oh, Jack, what luck! Most of the men 
will be there, and there won’t be anyone here on the 
seats. I’ll — I’ll come and spend all the evening with 
you.” 

‘ ‘ I’m awfully sorry to have to tell you that your 
plan is impossible,” I answered in as rueful tones as I 
could. “After supper I must begin writing up my re- 
port and I expect to be busy until nearly ten 
o’clock. ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


75 


I was lying with a facility that surprised me. But I 
was becoming desperate. 

“ Won’t you be able to see me this evening at all, 
then ?” she said in disappointed accents. “ Can’t you 
try, Jack, to see me, if only for a few moments ? You 
don’t know what a sickening disappointment it will be 
to me if you cannot, for I have looked forward to 
this meeting with you so eagerly! Try, Jack, and I’m 
sure you can think of some way.” 

I knitted my brows and folded my arms as if I were 
taxing my brain power to the utmost. So indeed I 
was, but not exactly as the widow fancied. What 
should I do ? Here I was, in a fair way of getting 
myself into a pretty mess. 

“Never!” I said to myself. And my mouth set 
fiercely as I thought: “I’ll finish this thing finally. 
She shall see me to-night, and for the last time.” I 
raised my eyes to Mrs. Wrayburn’s and met her ques- 
tioning gaze. 

“ Now, look here,” I said, and the lady, I am bound to 
say, was all attention. “1 can see you to-night, but it 
can’t be for very long. Between half-after-ten and 
eleven o’clock I’m going the rounds of the sentry posts. 
If you’ll be on the road near the gate to Fort Clinton, I’ll 
meet you there at eleven o’clock. I can’t promise 
that I’ll be able to stay more than a quarter of an hour, 
but it’s the best I can do. I’ll run a decided risk in 
doing that, too. If I’m caught I’ll be court-martialed. ” 

“I’ll be there, you can depend on that. Jack,” said 
Violet, and her tone was so glad that for a fact I felt 
like a double-dyed scoundrel. She did care for me 
then, at least her whole manner said so. “You may 
be sure,” she continued, gazing earnestly into my 
eyes, “ that I will count every minute until our meet- 
ing. You won’t fail me, will you Jack ? You’ll be 
there, whatever happens ? ” 

“I’ll be there, I promise you that,” I said in tones 
that carried conviction with them ; for Mrs. Wrayburn’s 
eyes flamed for a moment with something different 
from mere gladness, and her soft cheeks flushed a 
charming pink under the shadow of her crape veil. 

“ I know you’ll keep the tryst. Jack,” she murmured, 
rising as she spoke. “Until then, au revoir. You 


76 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


must go back to your duty, I know, and I will return 
to the hotel and spend the day in my room. But 
think of me all day, Jack, will you ? For until eleven 
o’clock to-night you shall have all my thoughts.” 

“ Until eleven o’clock at the Fort Clinton gate,” I 
said, as with a bright smile over her shoulder at me 
the widow moved away in the direction of the hotel. 

I went slowly back to the guard- tent, my lips com 
pressed and my brow furrowed in thought. A nice 
mess I was in truly ! Engaged to the woman whom 1 
loved, promised to an evening rendezvous with a 
woman who professed to love me. Oh ! It was a 
beautiful situation ! 

The rest of the day I walked about as if in a dream. 
The one thought that haunted me was “What will 
Evelyn think ? What will she say?” For I had de- 
cided that when I saw her in the evening I would tell 
her all the truth about my flirtation with Mrs. Wray- 
burn, and let her judge me. 

Usually the time I passed away from my fiancee 
dragged very wearily. But that day, as I remember 
well, the hours fairly flew. It was growing dark, and 
the men, singly or in little groups, were leaving the 
camp for the hop, when I went out to the seats and 
found her waiting for me. The “ visitors’ tent” offered 
us a screen from the eyes of the sentry on number one, 
and we hastened to place ourselves under its shelter. 

For awhile my sweetheart talked happily and con- 
fidingly of our love, and the bright life we were to lead 
together after our marriage. And I listened to her, 
wondering how I should begin the story I had to tell 
her. 

At last my chance came. 

“Evelyn,” I said, taking advantage of a moment’s 
silence on her part, “are you sure, quite sure, that 
you really love me ?” 

“ Sure, Jack? Why, what a question ! You might 
as well ask me if I am sure that I am alive ! Of 
course I am sure that I love you. If I were not, do 
you think your arm would be where it is now ?” 

“ But if I should tell you some things I have done,” 
I continued, tightening, I must confess, the pressure 
pf the arm that encircled her enchanting waist. “ If 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


77 


you should learn from what I say that I have not al- 
ways been as you would have me be, that I have acted 
wrongly under certain conditions, would you love me 
then ?” 

Hush, Jack ! I won’t let you go on,’’ she mur- 
mured imperiously. “ I won’t have you talk so about 
yourself. You act wrongly in anything ? You know 
very well that that is impossible.” 

“Indeed, love, I know no such thing,” I answered, 
slowly. “ There are many things in my life, short as 
it has been, that I deeply regret. About some of them 
I wish to talk to you.” 

“ You musn’t. Jack, for I won’t listen to you. It’s 
the past, and it is dead. Why pain us both by bring- 
ing it to life ? What do I care for things done before 
you knew me ? You are mine, you belong to me now, 
and that is all I care for.” 

As she said these words, my sweetheart turned her 
glorious eyes on mine. The devotion and implicit 
trust I read in their depths made me forget all else but 
her. My lips sought hers, her arms clung round my 
neck. The moment for confession had escaped me. 
No further attempt could I make that night, and when 
Evelyn bade me farewell and went back to the hotel, 
my affair with Mrs. Wrayburn was still unknown to 
her. 

Attended by an orderly, I went across the plain to 
the hop-room, it being part of my duty as Officer of 
the Day to be there and give the signal for the dance 
to cease. Taps came, and I quickly went through the 
duty of receiving the reports of the company officers. 
Then, in my own tent, I smoked and thought until a 
glance at my watch warned me that I must start on 
my tour of the sentry posts if I wished to be prompt 
at my meeting with Mrs. Wrayburn. 

The camp was still and no lights gleamed in the 
tents. But the moon was out, and one could see al- 
most as well as'at noonday. Up and down their posts 
paced the sentinels, watchful and alert. 

When I finished with post number six, instead of 
continuing my way to the guard tent I turned back, 
and hastened through the southern gate of Fort Clin- 
ton. I went rapidly across the Fort. A figure nioved 


78 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


out from the shadows to meet me and I recognized 
Mrs. Wrayburn. 

“ Both of us are ahead of the hour, I think, Jack,” 
she said as I came up to her. “And that speaks well 
for our patience, doesn’t it? But come out of the 
moonlight. There’s a lovely seat on an old beam 
there, and it’s big enough for two.” 

“Thank you, I won’t sit down, for I’ve only a few 
minutes and what I have to say I can tell you better 
here,” I answered. 

Perhaps she read what was to follow in my face. 
For her hands went to her throat for a second, and she 
gave a quick little gasp as if for breath. Then she 
said: “What is it. Jack? What have you to tell 
me? ” 

“Briefly this,” I answered, in short, and I fear 
brutal accents. “ I’m engaged to be married, and 
you and I must not meet alone again. Think what 
you will of me. And now, good bye.” I held out my 
hand. 

But I was not to get away without remonstrance. She 
did not take my proffered hand, but moved a step closer 
to me and gazed at me with haggard, appealing 
eyes. 

“ What do you mean. Jack ? Engaged to be mar- 
ried, did you say? Engaged! You? Oh, Jack, 
it is cruel of you to joke with me in this manner. 
Don’t go on with it, I beg of you, but tell me that 
it’s only a jest, and be nice to me. For the day has 
been so long, dear, and I thought the time would 
never come. Be good to me. Jack, won’t you? ” 

“Mrs. Wrayburn,” I began. 

But she broke in upon what I was about to say with 
a passionate “ No, no. Jack, not that name! Call me 
Violet, please, dear.” 

“Well, then, Violet, if you wish,” I continued, 
striving to keep cool. “What I have said to you is 
perfectly true. I am engaged, and my meeting with 
you to-night is simply to say farewell.” 

She looked me in the eyes long and earnestly. 
Then in quiet tones she said. “And the woman to 
whom you are betrothed? Who is she? ” 

“ I met her here this summer,” I said curtly. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


79 


“ Do you love her? Or is it not your doing, but 
your father’s? ” 

“ I love her with all my heart and soul ! ” 

Her eyes fell and her head sunk on her bosom. 

“My God!” I heard her whisper softly. “My 
God! ” Then she raised her head. 

“ With all your heart, you say you love her. Jack ? 
Have you a heart, I wonder ? Is all that you have 
said to me forgotten, then ? Have you no remembrance 
of that night on Trophy Point, when you held me in 
your arms, Jack, and I gave you all that woman has 
to give ? You loved me then; I swear you loved me 
that night, Jack! You — you cannot have forgotten 
all that so soon. Jack! Jack! my love, say you have 
not forgotten ! That you are only trying me to see if 
I love you truly, and that you are satisfied that I have 
stood the trial ! ” 

“Stop! ” I said hoarsely. “You make me listen to 
what I must not hear. Forgive me if I have pained 
you. The truth is the truth, and I have told it to 
you. Good-by.” 

But with a rapid bound she was upon me, her arms 
were thrown tight about my neck, and her hot breath 
was on my cheek as she poured forth a swift torrent 
of words, passionate and pleading. 

“ Don’t tell me that it’s true. Jack! don't^ I beg of 
you! You can’t have learned to love another woman 
since I’ve been gone! You may have wavered in your 
love during my absence, but now that I am here all 
will be as it was. Look at me. Jack; I am beautiful, 
am I not ? At least you have told me so. The girl 
you say you are bound to cannot be fairer than I. 
Or, grant that she is. Jack, she cannot love you a 
thousandth part so well as I do. Think, Jack, what 
I’ve risked for you. My name, my social standing, 
my reputation, all I’ve placed at your mercy. Body 
and soul I am yours. Jack, all yours. When you 
think of that I know that you cannot tell me you do 
not love me.” 

For a moment her mad action had its effect upon 
me. Her warm arms, the perfume of her hair, the 
fragrance of her breath, the musical, half tearful tones 
of her voice, all moved me. The remembrances of 


8o 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


that night on Trophy Point came over my brain like a 
flood, and a wild devil of passion burned within me. 
With an effort I mastered myself though, and tore 
myself from her resisting arms. 

“Love you!” I said half fiercely, “You ask me if 
I love you f Learn the truth then, since you wish it. 
You have in you the art to rouse the passions that I 
possess in common with all men. Once you suc- 
ceeded. You wish to know if I love you? I do not! 
Good-by, and forever! ” 

As I spoke I turned, and before Mrs. Wrayburn, who 
had sunk down to the ground, could rise, I was walk- 
ing rapidly toward the camp. Whether she followed 
me, or how long she remained there, I never knew. 
For I walked straight to my tent, and throwing myself, 
dressed as I was, upon the tent floor, I went over the 
whole matter again and again. 

Try as I would to turn my thoughts into another chan- 
nel, the memory of Mrs. Wrayburn’s despairing face 
kept haunting me, and her wild accents still rang in 
my ears. And I, knowing the sweetness of love, 
realized how cruel, how bitterly cruel, my words must 
have been to her. 

Besides, I knew that I had been weak — that I, Jack 
Bellhurst, had acted the part of a miserable coward in 
going to meet her. Why had I not frankly told her 
the truth in the morning? Why had I not confessed 
all to Evelyn in spite of her prohibition? The answer 
came to me with all the sting of truth brought home. 
Because I had been afraid, I had been afraid to inform 
Mrs. Wrayburn of my engagement in the morning lest 
she should in her anger seek out my affianced and 
tell her what had passed between us. The fear of 
seeing the love-light in Evelyn’s eyes change for the 
fires of scorn and disdain had kept me silent at night. 
There was no denying the fact. I, who in my inmost 
soul gloried in the sense that I had never known fear, 
was a coward — a pitiful coward. 

Every noise of the night, every creak of the tent, 
seemed to hiss in my ears the hateful word, ‘ ‘ Coward ! ” 
And I swore to myself that come what might I would 
tell Evelyn all. As I meditated, morning came. 

Half after five boomed from the tower of the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


8l 


Academic, the steadily held hand came swiftly down, 
and with the flash and roar of the morning gun the 
fifes and drums of the waiting musicians joined in the 
brisk notes of reveille. Into the camp went the 
drum corps, playing up and down the company streets. 
Here and there a disheveled head was poked out from 
a tent, and then drawn in again as the cadet felt the 
chill of the morning air. One by one, shell-jacketed, 
white-trousered forms emerged into the company 
streets, some looping up the fronts of their tents, 
others busy with broom in hand or snatching their 
water-buckets and skurryingaway to the hydrants. The 
military day was begun. 

Breakfast over, I lounged around the guard-tents 
watching the morning drill with listless indifference. 
But when this was finished, and the men in camp were 
busy in preparation for “ Troop parade,” my eyes be- 
gan to wander toward the hotel, for every moment I 
expected to see Evelyn come out from the hedge on 
her way to the camp. 

I watched in vain, she did not come. 

Parade was passed, the guard details were forming 
in the streets, and a lot of pretty women thronged the 
benches, attended by luckier cadets released for a 
short half-hour from military duty ; but still no Evelyn. 

“Where can she be?” I wondered. “I hope to 
goodness she’s not ill.' Nonsense ! She’s probably 
sleepy. 

With this consoling thought I settled the strap of my 
shako under my lip and strolled down toward the seats, 
where I was presently joined by Raven, who was 
going on as new Officer of the Day. Raven was in the 
act of replacing his plumed headgear after a killing 
salute to a lively girl from Baltimore whom he had 
met at the hop the night before, when glancing at me 
the smile left his face, and he seized my arm firmly, 
saying hurriedly : 

“My God ! Jack ! What’s the matter with you? 
You’re white as paper ! Lean on me for a minute, 
old man, you can hardly stand alone. Quick ! Try 
to brace up, I tell you, for we’ve got to take our posts. 
They’re going to sound off directly. Are you bet- 
ter now ? ” 


A PASSING EMPEkOR. 


“Better? I don’t know! I feel queer, queer in 
my head,” I stammered. Then with an eifort. “ I’m 
all right, now, though. Come on ! ” 

I stepped to my post, and stood with folded arms 
and head erect as the band moved out upon the turf 
in front of the guard. Outwardly calm, through force 
of military habit, I stood there. But my brain was on 
fire, and every muscle in my body was quivering with 
the desire to break from my post and rush away across 
the cavalry plain to the road. 

For as Raven and I had been chatting the long 
stage that carried the guests of the hotel to the rail- 
way station had left the hedge and was rolling rapidly 
toward the chapel. Though distant, it was not too 
far away for me to recognize its occupants. In it Mr. 
Vernon was seated and with him were Evelyn and 
Alys Rowell, accompanied by their maids. The bag- 
gage van that followed, piled high with trunks, plainly 
told me that this was no temporary journey, no day’s 
excursion that they were bent on. They were leaving 
West Point ! 

Why this sudden departure without warning ? 
My fiancU had said nothing of it to me on the 
previous night. Indeed, she had intimated that she 
was almost determined to remain until October. 
What could have happened? Why had she not come 
down to say good-by, if only for a moment ? 

Then thoughts chased through my brain, as grim and 
soldierly in bearing I went through the remaining cere- 
monies of guard-mount. At last Raven and I left our 
posts. One of the waiters from the hotel stepped up 
to me and held out two notes. The envelopes of both 
were blank and bore no address. 

“What’s this, James?” I asked sharply. 

“ Misto’ Vehnon tole me to give it to yo’ all, sah,” 
protested the negro, “ jus’ as soon as gau’d-mountin’ 
was ovah. But he said, ‘ Don’ yo’ give it to him be- 
foah dat.’ So I done wait an’ do what he tole me.” 

“Oh, all right, then,” I said, taking the envelopes. 
One bulged, evidently containing something weighty. 
I tore it open, and my class ring fell into my palm. 
With it was a sheet of paper, on which, in Evelyn’s 
writing, I read these words. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


83 


All IS OVER BETWEEN US AND I SEND YOU BACK 
YOUR RING. I TRUST THAT' I MAY NEVER SEE YOUR 
FACE AGAIN.” 

There was ho signature, but the characters were too 
well known for me to doubt whose hand had penned 
them. I gazed blankly at the writing, aghast and 
bewildered, for I could not understand, the blow had 
been so sudden. 

Then I opened the second note. It was written in 
a coarse, bold hand, and read as follows : 

“ Mr. John Bellhurst : 

“ You are one of the most cursed villains that the Lord ever let 
live. The harm you have done can be repaired, I hope, as far 
as my poor girl is concerned, for I am thankful to say that she 
now hates you as much as I do. But you have a score to settle 
with me, remember that, and before I die I intend to see it fully 
paid. Your life would be a poor reparation, or I would shoot 
you down as I would a worthless cur. I once told you how I 
should feel toward you if I found you false. Remember, you 
shall live to curse the day you ever saw my face. 

“ Thomas Vernon.” 


CHAPTER IX. 

A SIREN FROM NEW YORK. 

On my first opportunity that day I left the camp 
and sought seclusion in the mass of rocks beyond 
Kosciuszko’s garden. There I sat down and read 
those two fateful notes over and over, striving in vain 
to think of some cause for their existence ; for that the 
meeting of the night before was known to any one 
beside Mrs. Wrayburn and myself I never suspected. 

“ I trust that I may never see your face again.” 

There they were, those cruel words, written across 
the paper in Evelyn’s decided characters. Her hand 
had been firm as she penned them, no emotion had 
made her waver in her writing. But why had she sent 
me such a message ? What had I done to deserve such 
treatment ? Save that which I was sure she did not 
know. 

My eyes grew misty as I gazed out over the broad 
river, and before I realized it two hot tears went cours- 


84 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


ing down my cheeks. Angrily I dashed them away 
and checked the others that were ready to follow. 
What! Jack Bellhurst crying ? 

My pride began to assert itself. Why should I grieve 
because the daughter of a man of plebeian origin and 
born in a miner’s shanty had withdrawn from me her 
affection? It had evidently been an easy task for her 
to give me up. Then, why should I take it to heart ? 
After all, she was only a woman. And what was a 
woman, that I should waste a thought over her? True, 
she was more beautiful than the others, and appealed 
most powerfully to my thoughts. But, then, her coarse 
and dictatorial father! 

Her father! By Jove! Over her note I was for- 
getting that he also had sent a message. Opening the 
paper, I read it carefully. 

“So you’re going in for the lurid lust of vengeance, 
are you, old chap?” I thought. “And you’ll make 
me curse the day I ever saw your face, eh! Well, for 
that matter. I’ll do that now, cheerfully, and no 
effort of yours will be needed to make me do it.” 

I spent the morning on the rocks, fighting out my 
battle, and by the time my “old guard privileges’" 
were nearing their termination I felt ready to face the 
fellows and the world at large with unlimited froid. 

At dinner I assumed to know the whys and where- 
fores of the Vernon’s sudden departure, and took Ray 
Harding’s chaffing on my disconsolate condition with 
the utmost aplomb. 

To keep my mind diverted from thoughts of my lost 
love I threw myself into cadet recreations with re- 
doubled ardor. I went to every hop and band con- 
cert, and my leisure moments during the day were 
spent in flirting with any woman I could get hold of. 

I tried even to forget old Vernon, but I soon had evi- 
dence he had not forgotten me. 

About a w^eek after Evelyn’s departure I was on 
duty as “hop-manager” at one of the dances. My 
office gave me the privilege of addressing any lady in 
the room, whether I knew her or not, and imposed on 
me the task of finding partners for those demoiselles 
who wished to dance, and, being newcomers, were 
unacquainted with the cadets. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


85 


Early in the evening I noticed a very handsome girl, 
richly dressed, but with nothing flashy in her appear- 
ance, enter the hop room and seat herself in the most 
self-possessed manner at the farther end. She seemed 
to know none of those present, so I at once made my 
way to her side, introduced myself, and, explaining the 
rights and duties of a hop-manager, offered to 
bring up some of the men and present them to her if 
she wished to dance. 

“Don’t you dance yourself, then?” she said de- 
murely, with a flicker of a smile about her mouth. 

“ Always when I’m asked,” I answered laughing. 

“I’ll try you, then, before I trust myself to the 
others,” she laughed gayly. And away we went. 

She waltzed superbly, and I let my official duties go, 
spending the greater part of the evening with her. So 
well did the unknown talk, and so fascinated was I 
with her conversation, that I did not even learn her 
name until the dance was over and we were leaving 
the hop-room, and then it was only by chance. 

Teddy Callahan had been spending the evening out- 
side in the moonlight with a Western girl. Meeting 
us at the door as we were going out, he gave my new 
acquaintance a start by putting out his hand and ex- 
claiming, warmly: “Why, Mary Ronayne! Where in 
the world did ye come from ? And isn’t it meself 
that’s delighted to see ye ? ” 

Miss Ronayne seemed confused for a moment, but 
rallied and greeted Teddy with great effusion. She 
walked back to the hotel in preference to riding in the 
bus, so that she could see more of us, she said. On 
the way she and Teddy chattered rapidly with the famil- 
iarity of old acquaintances. She had not seen Calla- 
han for over three years. In New York they had 
known each other well. Her father, as he knew, was 
an actor, and shortly after Teddy had become a cadet 
she had gone on the stage. She had been quite suc- 
cessful, and was now finishing up a summer’s rest after 
the fatigues of a busy winter. He had not seen her 
when he was at home on furlough the summer before be- 
cause she had been filling an engagement in the West. 
How greatly he had improved ! And wasn’t it lovely 
that he should be at the Point, and how nice it was for 


86 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


her not to feel a perfect stranger! And how strange 
that the first man she should meet turned out to be 
Teddy’s dearest friend 1 She was going to stay for 
two weeks at least, perhaps longer, the air of the place 
was so bracing. 

All this the lady imparted to us, and when she bade 
us good-night it was with a promise to see us at guard- 
mounting and to walk with me in the afternoon. 

“A nice girl, that, Teddy,” I said, as we were un- 
dressing by the light of three tallow candles stuck in a 
cracker-box, the back and sides of the box serving for 
reflectors. 

“Yes, I always liked Mary well,” he answered, re- 
flectively. “She’s bright, and was a very good 
friend to me in the old days. And it’s good of ye. 
Jack, to try and make her stay here pleasant. But ye 
know, me son, she’s not in the same caste with ye, 
any more than I am, and ” 

“ Shut up! you confounded ass! ” I promptly broke 
in, whacking him over the head with the pillow I was 
about to arrange at the head of my resting-place on 
the floor. 

So for several succeeding days I acted as Miss Ro- 
nayne’s esquire, both because she knew Teddy and be- 
cause I liked her. My friendship seemed to be re- 
turned, and when we were alone on Flirtation her 
manner, though not to be called bold, was such that I 
saw I might venture on familiarities with impunity. 
But I never did, and in my walks with her I treated 
her with the greatest courtesy. She knew Teddy, and 
was his friend ; that was her safeguard. 

It was hard for me, too, at times. For the girl was 
very handsome, with wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and 
a superb figure. When you sat beside her and she 
gradually moved close to you, and her little hand fell 
carelessly over on yours, and you felt her shoulder 
against your arm,, it was all you could do to resist the 
impulse to clasp her in your arms and shower kisses on 
her inviting, red mouth. But I refrained, and glad 
was I in the end that I did so. 

Our acquaintance came to an end after this fashion. 
I had walked with her down Flirtation one afternoon, 
and we had stopped to rest at Gee’s Point. A steam- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


§7 


boat excursion had come up the river from New York 
and a crowd of sightseers filled the Point. A party of 
them came walking down the path behind us as we sat 
there on the bench, and I caught several rude jokes 
pa-ssing among them about “the cadet and his mash.” 
They went on in the direction of Battery Knox, but one 
of their number suddenly turned and came walking out 
on Gee’s Point under pretense of viewing the river, 
though evidently for a closer view of us. He was a 
stout, flashily dressed fellow, aged probably about five 
and thirty, with a bloated face, purplish complexion, 
and heavy black moustache, waxed at the ends. 

He gave us a curious side glance as he walked by 
us; then stopped suddenly and fixed a bold, impudent 
pair of eyes on my companion, while a broad grin illu- 
mined his coarse face. 

“Well, may I be gaffed, if I ever expected to see 
this!” he said, laughing as he spoke. “How are we, 
anyway, old girl, and who’s the young buttons you 
have in tow? Better take care, my boy; you’re in 
dangerous, if charming, company.” 

Miss Ronayne rose at once from the bench. 

“You are evidently mistaken, sir,” she said icily. 
“If you are ready, Mr. Bellhurst, we will continue our 
walk. ” 

“Oh, no, I’m not a bit mistaken,” the fellow re- 
joined. “ It’s you who’re mistaken, Kitty, if you 
think you can bluff an old side partner in this fashion. 
Come,” stepping in front of her as she moved in the 
direction of the path, “ you don’t get away from Jim 
Hanson this way. Give me a kiss and I’ll overlook 
your cool welcome for the sake of old times.” 

“You are in the lady’s way, fellow,” I interposed, 
sternly. “ Move aside at once and let her pass.” 

“Fellow? My, how grand you are, baby!” the 
unabashed Mr. Hanson answered me. “And/«^^.' 
Think of that! I don’t see any lady here myself. If 
you call a ballet-girl or a ” 

But his sentence was unfinished. My straight left- 
hand blow flattened that over-ripe, reddish nose of his 
level with his cheeks, and Mr. Hanson went down like 
a nine-pin. He staggered to his feet, his face covered 
with blood, and, smearing it away with his coat-sleeve, 


88 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


poured forth a flood of profanity. But I was in no 
mood to let him stand there and curse. I was upon 
him in a second. Down to the rocks at the river’s 
edge I rushed him. One powerful kick impelled him 
over the slippery stones, and he made a great splash as 
he struck the water. 

I did not even look to see how he fared, but, walk- 
ing back to Miss Ronayne, I said calmly: “ If you’re 
ready now, we’ll go on.” 

We followed the path, I chatting away, as usual, but 
my fair companion was strangely silent. Once or 
twice I caught her stealing furtive glances at me, but I 
made no further allusion to what had happened on 
Gee's Point. 

We came to a place that we had rather fancied during 
several of our excursions in that vicinity, and when I 
proposed sitting down Miss Ronayne made no objec- 
tion. A moment after she suddenly interrupted me 
in the middle of a poetical allusion to the blue of her 
eyes.” 

“ Stop that nonsense,” she said, “ and listen to what 
I am going to tell you.” 

Her voice was harsh and forced, and I, gazing sur- 
prisedly at her, saw that her face looked several years 
older. “Mr. John Bellhurst,” she continued, “you 
are young, and you are as easy as they make them, in 
a certain way. Easy to get on the right side of, for 
you’re vain as a peacock. Easy to rouse, for you’ve 
got the strongest kind of passions in you. But young 
fool as you are, you’re a gentleman and you’re a thor- 
oughbred. You smashed Jim Hanson’s ugly face and 
threw him into the water without making any more 
bones about it than you would have about wishing him 
good-day. And you did it because he insulted me J 
ME ! Think of that ! ” 

“You know that without asking me,” I answered. 
“ But for goodness sake what’s the matter? Have you 
gone mad, that you talk in such a manner? ” 

“Mad? No, far from it! I wish to God though that 
I could go mad!” she said bitterly. “Perhaps I 
might be able to forget, then, what, this little meeting 
with Jim has brought forcibly home to me. Do you 
know, boy, but you don’t know, and I have half a mind 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


89 


not to tell you. Still, once started, I’d better go on 
and make a clean breast of it. Listen to this, and 
then tell me what you think of me. You are the only 
man I know that would raise a finger to resent an insult 
offered to me. And if you knew me as I am, you’d 
be like all the others.” 

“Just hold on a minute,” I interrupted. “You 
forget that you know Teddy. He’d fight for you just 
as quick as I would.” 

“He wouldn’t if he knew.” She said half sadly. 
Then she turned her eyes on me with sharp inquiry in 
them. “ See here, I want to ask you a question. 
We’ve been down in these woods before now, and I’ve 
sat close up to you, and given you plenty of chance. 
Why haven’t you ever put your arm around me, or 
tried to kiss me? Didn’t you think I was good enough 
for you to kiss? ” 

“You’ve asked me a pretty plain question, and I 
suppose you want an equally plain answer? ” 

“Yes, I do. Tell me the truth. Why was it?” 

“Because you were the friend of my chum. If it 
will do you any good to know it, I’ve often felt like 
kissing you. But for his sake I didn’t.” 

She looked at me for a few seconds. Suddenly her 
eyes were full of tears. 

“So you respected me, did you?” she muttered. 
“Well, young man, to the day of your death you may 
be glad that you did. Mr. Bellhurst, I’m a bad 
woman. I’ve lived in a way that has made me no- 
torious in the West, especially in San Francisco. Of 
course I didn’t go under the name you know me by 
there. But that doesn’t matter. Though I lived fast, 
I bled several young millionaires to a pretty good tune, 
I can tell you, and I’ve feathered my nest well. But 
all this you don’t care to hear. Now to the point. If 
I don’t speak plainly enough let me know. You are no 
“innocent,” I can see that, and yet I don’t like to 
come right out in what I have to say to you. For you 
have respected me. Listen! I had just come back 
from ’Frisco, and in New York I met an old friend of 
mine. Lucky Vernon, the mine owner. He made me a 
business offer and I accepted it. I was to come up 
here and make your acquaintance. If possible I was 


90 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


to get on intimate terms with you — most intimate! 
Then she whispered words that chilled me with a sick- 
ening horror, and as I staggered from her continued : 
“If I succeeded in ruining your soul and destroying 
your body, I was to get ten thousand dollars. Have 
I told you enough ? ” 

“By Jove! I should say you had!” I said, em- 
phatically. “The diabolical old villain! ” 

“What have you done to him?” the girl said, 
anxiously. “I’m sorry for you, honestly I am, for he 
hates you with an awful hatred. And you won’t 
always get out of his snares the 'way you did this 
time.” 

“The devil I won’t!” I returned in determined 
tones. “ He’ll find his match if he doesn’t give it up. 
A brainier man than either he or I will have a hand in 
the pie.” 

For this matter was so serious that I at once deter- 
mined that the Hon. John should know of it. 

“I hope you won’t come to harm. And now, will 
you forgive me for what I planned against you? I’ve 
made everything square by confessing, haven’t I? 
Will you shake hands good-by? I’ll go back to the 
hotel alone, for now you won’t want to walk with me.” 

“You shan’t do any such thing,” I said. And as I 
put out my hand to her I took off my cap. “There’s 
free forgiveness, and friendship, I hope, for the future. 
And if any man offers you insult in my presence you 
know what he’ll get. ” 

That overcame her, and she had quite a spell of 
crying before she could compose herself sufficiently to 
walk back to the hotel. As I bade her good-by, she 
made me promise not to tell Teddy Callahan what had 
occurred until the last day of August had gone by; 
and pledged herself, on her side, to depart from West 
Point that afternoon. 

“Look here,” I said as I was about to leave 
her; “suppose you go to old Vernon, tell him that 
you’ve succeeded, and claim your ten thousand. I’ll 
help you to fool him for a month or so.” 

“ No, I’m not that kind,” she answered firmly. “ I 
play square when I make a bargain. I’ll simply tell 
him I failed,” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


91 


CHAPTER X. 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF “BONING TOUGH.” 

True to my pledge, I waited until the evening of 
the first of September before telling Teddy the story 
of old Vernon’s plot against me and its miscarriage. 

By the time I had gotten half way in my narrative, 
Callahan was pacing swiftly, but noiselessly, back and 
forth across the room like a caged panther. And when I 
finished, and leaned back in my chair to hear his com- 
ments on my tale, he burst out with a torrent of im- 
precations, low-voiced, but all the fiercer for that fact, 
consigning the vindictive western nabob to the utmost 
torments of the infernal world, and threatening swift 
and direful punishment should they ever chance to 
meet again. 

“Curse him! curse him!” he panted. “To think 
of his iver daring to plan such harm to ye. Jack! And 
all because his damned red-haired spitfire of a daugh- 
ter saw fit to try and break your heart.” 

“ Hold on, there, Teddy, old boy !” I interrupted. 
“I know you’re excited, but please leave the lady out 
of the discussion.” 

“I will ! I’ll say no more of her, and beg her 
pardon for what I’ve said already ! But as for her 
father, may he niver know another happy day on 
earth ! And after death may he turn and turn forever 
and forever above the red-hot grate-bars of hell !” 

“ A pleasant time of it you’d give the old fellow, 
I’m certain. But for goodness sake leave off your 
curses and sit'down here. I want to talk this matter 
over with you and see what you think I had better do 
about it, ’ I said seriously. 

“ When I first got onto this scheme of the old man’s 
I was just about as wild over it as ypu are. I don’t 
see how I can have wronged him to the extent he evi- 
dently thinks I have. But the knowledge I have of 
his character, small though it may be, leads me to 
believe that he’s not the man to give up easily. He’s 
failed in his endeavor, but I’ll bet that he’s got an- 
other scheme started by this time. And if it’s as dev- 


92 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


ilish as the one that didn’t work” — I paused and drew 
a long breath — “by Jove ! I think it will behoove me 
to take precious good care of myself.” 

‘ ‘ I should say that it will ! ” T eddy snapped, viciously. 

“ He certainly must fancy that he’s been wronged, 
or he wouldn’t be so venomous!” I rejoined. “I 
wish I knew what he thinks I’ve done to him.” 

“Write and ask him, if ye’re so anxious to know,” 
snarled my chum. 

“ Hardly,” I said, with a smile. “ That’s not my way 
of doing things. Therefore, I had a telegram sent to 
the Hon. John this morning, and he’ll be at the Point 
as soon as steam can get him here.” 

“So ye’re goin’ to mix him up in the row, eh?” 
said Teddy, reflectively. “And will ye tell him the 
story ye’ve told me?” 

“You can bet I’ll tell it to him, and if he isn’t 
madder than you were I’ll agree to clean the rifles of 
all the plebes in A Company,” I said positively. “I 
don’t say that he’ll express so many kind wishes for 
Lucky Vernon’s hereafter as you did. But he’ll be 
clear through mad, and when he gets that way I 
think our friend Vernon will find he's not at liberty 
to hatch such plots against the health and happiness 
of the Hon. John Bellhurst’s only son.” 

“ You’re right there. Jack,” Teddy decided with a 
gleeful laugh. “The Hon. John may not care so 
very much for ye as ye are, but as his only son, and 
the one on whom his dearest hopes depind — whew! 
I'd give me chevrons to see him whin fie hears the 
joyful news ye have for him.” 

Contrary to Teddy’s prophecy, the Hon. John was 
not “crazy” at all when he had listened to the de- 
tails of Lucky Vernon’s plot against me. A cooler 
man it would have been impossible to find. He came 
to West Point on the morning following my talk with 
my roommate, and listened to my story without chang- 
ing a line of his countenance, keeping his eyes fixed 
inscrutably on mine, and never a gleam in them told 
me whether or not he were deeply moved. When I 
had finished, he laughed; “Your chivalry had its re- 
ward, John. You see that it is well to be always 
ready to defend a woman. One never knows what 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


93 


may come of it. As to what you have said, I have 
heard you with interest. One question, however, I 
wish to ask. You say you know of nothing that 
could have come to Vernon’s ears, that might have 
given them cause for their behavior in the matter 
of your engagement with Miss Evelyn? Was there 
anything unknown to them that nevertheless would 
have justified them in acting as they did? ” 

“Yes, sir, there was,” 

“And what was it?” the Hon. John asked blandly. 
Then, as I hesitated, he dropped for a moment the 
screen of suave indifference that served to mask his 
thoughts and laid his hand kindly on my arm. 

“ Don’t mistake me, John, but tell me without re- 
serve,” he said earnestly. “Twill more than repay 
this miserable cur for the injury he meditated against 
you. But to do it I must know all, so conceal nothing 
from me. I am your father, John, and if you cannot 
trust in me, to whom can you turn ? ” 

I was surprised. For the governor was very grave 
as he said these words and his eyes rested on me full of 
affection. 

Without more ado I plunged into a full and com- 
plete recital of all that had occurred during my inti- 
macy with Mrs. Wrayburn, from the first day I met 
her to our final interview. By the time I had finished 
the affectionate father was gone, and the governor 
was facing me with his old cynical manner of polite 
attention. 

“Quite a romantic little episode I must say, John, ” he 
remarked. “The lady came off worse than she had 
planned, though, and it seems that you got all of the 
pleasant sides of the matter and left the painful ones 
to her. Unless, indeed, your indulgence in such an 
affaire came to the knowledge of the Vernons.” 

“That is impossible, sir. They could not have 
known it,” I asserted positively. 

“I believe I "have told you that nothing is impos 
sible, John,” my father said in calm accents. “You 
will live to find out the truth of that statement, I 
hope. Now, is that all ? ” 

“ That is all, sir.” 

“Very well. I will bid you good morning then, as 


94 


A PASSING emperor. 


I wish to enjoy a few hours’ sleep as soon as possible. 
Travel fatigues me more and more every day. Be 
perfectly tranquil, and trust me to take such measures 
that you will not again be endangered by any of Mr. 
Lucky Vernon’s attempts to carry out his promise ‘ to 
make you curse the day you ever saw his face.” 

“But what will you do, father?” I queried. 
“ Surely you’re not thinking of going out with him ?” 

“ We fight only with gentlemen, John,” my father 
said with a shade of rebuke in his voice. “I am sur- 
prised that I need to remind you of that!” 

“How will you keep him harmless, then?” 1 per- 
sisted. 

A cold flash shot from the Hon. John’s black eyes, 
but the next second they were as unreadable as the 
sphynx. 

“ John,” he said, in a questioning, quizzical manner, 
“ have you forgotten that I have been all my life deep 
in the secrets of the nation and of the most prominent 
men of our country ? Don’t you think you can trust 
me to destroy our dear friend from the West, schem- 
ing as he has proved himself to be ?” 

“Well, yes, I suppose he won’t be able to get ahead 
of you,” I assented. “ But I thought I’d like to know 
what you are going to do, if you’ve no objection.” 

How I am going to do it there is no need for you 
to know, John,” my father said in his gentlest, most 
caressing accents. “ What I am going to do is to 
ruin Mr. Lucky Vernon socially and financially. I 
have no doubt that I can do it, for as you were en- 
gaged to his daughter I have made careful search into 
his history, and have discovered a great deal more 
than he has any suspicion. Some things in his career 
will not bear the light of day. Had you married his 
daughter, of course, I should have carefully concealed 
all that could have harmed her father, but now — 
well, that is all I will tell you, John. Good morning. 
I return to New York this afternoon, and will say 
good-by now.” 

So my father took his departure. 

I, left at West Point, was in ignorance of the 
measures he took for my safety from further attempts 
against my well-being. Day after day went by and 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


95 


nothing occurred to break the regular routine of life 
at the Academy. From taps to reveille, and from 
reveille to taps, I slept, ate, drilled, and studied as I 
had done during my past three years, though I did not 
find it so easy to get back to hard work at my books. 
Try as I would, thoughts of Evelyn would run through 
my brain. 

To forget my love was out of the question. I was 
restless and irritable sometimes, and though in my 
past years as a cadet I had been reasonably careful as 
to my “discipline ” record, I now paid little attention 
to the rules of the “blue book,” and “boned tough,” 
as it is called in cadet slang, with the most reckless 
spirits in the corps. 

Careless as I was in my behavior, and many though 
the “ skins ” were that I received, the January exam- 
inations came before I had overrun the limit of one 
hundred and twenty-five demerits allowed the cadet 
from June until January. 

On the first Saturday night after exams, were over, 
a small and select party gathered in my room. I had 
provided a bountiful supper for my guests with plenty 
of drinkables to wash it down. After the viands had 
been disposed of, cards and chips were produced, and 
until tattoo we played a fast and rather high game, 
much higher than was usual in the corps. At tattoo 
our guests had to leave, but Teddy and myself — for I 
regret that my example had communicated its evil 
effects to my chum — sat smoking together until the 
hour for putting out our lights, helping ourselves freely 
from the still abundant store of liquor in the room. 
Excited by play and the fluids we had imbibed we made 
no attempt to put the room in order, but turned in, 
leaving the table in the middle of the floor littered with 
cards and chips, and bearing divers bottles and empty 
glasses. 

I had a dim idea when I woke next morning with a 
splitting headache that during the night I had waked 
to find the glare of a bull’s-eye lantern in my eyes, and 
that the stern voice of the tactical officer had called 
my attention to the state of the room. But Teddy 
had no such recollection to back up what I said to him 
on the subject, and the evening reports for misconduct 


96 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


having been posted without our names appearing 
therein I dismissed my misgivings as part of an idle 
dream. 

Monday afternoon, however, as I left my division a 
few moments before “ undress parade ” — for the deep 
snow forbade all ceremonies on the plain and they had 
to be conducted on the wide porches of barracks — Ray 
Harding rushing up the steps, stopped as he saw me. 

‘ ‘ Old man, ” he said quietly, his hand on my shoulder, 
“ get all your nerve, for you’ll need it when you go 
over to the ‘ skin-board. ’ You and Callahan were hived 
by the tac on a midnight inspection Saturday night.” 

Calm though I was outwardly, within my brain was 
in a whirl. I knew well that reports such as I could 
picture to myself had been entered meant a court- 
martial, with dismissal from the army as an almost in- 
evitable consequence. Such was to be the ending of 
all my dreams of a soldier’s life! And then there was 
'Teddy! He too must receive the same punishment! 
And it had been my doing; without my example he 
would never have found himself in such a predicament. 

On parade when the time came, I standing grim and 
stolid heard Raven’s clear tones begin the reading of 
the “skin list.” As the reports were alphabetically 
arranged I had not long to wait for mine. Rapidly 
the cadet-adjutant rattled them off: 

“ Bellhurst. — Room orderly, room in disorder and 
table bearing cards, poker chips, and bottles containing 
spirituous liquors in middle of room about 12.30 a.m. ” 

“Same. — Drunk at inspection by Tactical Officer 
about 12.30 A.M.” 

‘ ‘ Same. — Conduct unbecoming a cadet and a gentle- 
man in using profane and abusive language to a 
superior officer about 12.30 a.m.” 

“Same. — Strong odor of tobacco smoke in quarters 
about 12.30 A. M.” 

Then a few names more among the B’s and I heard 
the adjutant read out: 

“Callahan — Drunk at inspection by tactical officer 
about 12.30 A.M.” 

When parade was over Teddy and I went straight to 
our room, for we knew what was coming. The door 
closed behind us. I turned and looked at him. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


97 


“Well?” he said, calmly, raising his eyebrows. 

A shrug of the shoulders was all my reply, as I 
paced over to the windows and looked out upon the 
plain. 

The court-martial that followed was a mere formal- 
ity. We had no defense and we deserved no mercy. 
After the proceedings and sentence were sent on to 
the Secretary of War for approval we were powerless, 
for Teddy had no influence to exert at Washington, 
and I could not ask my father to help me stay in the 
army. 

So we stood for the last time in the ranks of the 
battalion of cadets one evening early in February, and 
heard Raven read out the findings of the court-martial 
ending with the sentence, “That they, the said cadets, 
John Bellhurst and Terrence Callahan, be dismissed 
from the service of the United States.” 

We left the Point next morning. Once in New 
York, I made Teddy come to a hotel with me, for he 
had no desire to face his parents and friends. 

In answer to my inquiries as to what be intended to 
do, he said that he would hunt for work at once and 
turn his hand to the first that offered. But I had a 
better idea. A paper that I had bought on the train 
in the morning contained news of a kind to fill me with 
the wildest plans. 

“See here, Teddy, I’ve been going over my bank 
account, and find that I’m able to lay hands on over 
five thousand dollars.” 

My father had persisted in depositing my allowance 
to my credit in a New York bank during all my time 
at the Point, and though I drew freely on it while 
there, it had accumulated rapidly. 

“ I’m glad ye’re so well off, me son,” was my chum’s 
unmoved comment. 

“ Glad we're so well off, you mean; for half of it’s 
at your service ; you know that as well as I do. Teddy, 
we’rQ going to Mexico.” 

“And what will we do in Mexico when we get there? 
Is it after teachin’ the Greasers the American tongue 
that we’ll be? ” 

“Not by a jugful. They’re having the biggest 
5ort of a row down there now. The French have put 


98 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Maximilian of Austria in as Emperor, and the Liberal 
party have elected a file called Juarez, president. Both 
sides have raised armies, and are fighting it out.” 

“Bedad, don’t I know that! ” 

“Now, here you and I are, both of us trained sol- 
diers ; I’ve got coin enough to get us there, and there 
we’ll go! Are you in?” 

“As usual, I’m with ye. Jack, to the end. Oh! ye 
divil! it’s an illigant brain ye have for findin’ some- 
thin’ to do. But what will the Hon. John say? ” 

“He won’t have a chance to say anything,” I re- 
marked with decision. “We’ll sail on the first ship 
we can find.” 

“Ye’re wisdom itself, me boy. To Mexico we’ll 
go, and then '‘Viva ’ — but hold on! Which side of the 
row will we ‘ viva ’ for? Will we fight for the monarch, 
or shall the Greaser President get us if he wants us?” 

“That we’ll settle when we get there. Fighting 
will make me forget her.” 

“ Bedad, there’s something else ’ll make ye for- 
get her. In Mexico, I’m told, there’s the bright, soft 
eyes of Andalusia and the ankles of- Sevill,” grinned 
Callahan. 

Two days afterward we left New York on the sailing 
vessel, Martha Wainwright^ bound for the port of 
Vera Cruz. 


BOOK II. 


For the Emperor! 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE HIRELINGS OF A DESPOT. 

“Land ho!” roared Teddy in my ear. “Go on 
deck, me son, and take a view of the soil ye’re achin’ 
to drench with blood. Salute the land of Mexico.” 

This was six in the morning, some three weeks after 
we had sunk the Navesink Highlands as we sailed from 
New York. A few minutes after I was on deck. 

The ship lay under the walls of the Castle San Juan 
d’Ulloa, which stands on an island in the harbor of 
Vera Cruz. As the bay offers no secure anchorage, 
large iron rings are fixed in the castle wall, and to one 
of these the ship had been moored. Half a mile or so 
away we could see the low, sandy shore and the houses 
of the city, forming a semicircle around the harbor. 
Several other vessels were in the bay; near us, a huge 
French transport, her boats busily engaged in the 
transferring of the troops on board her to the shore. 

In the town, some hours later, our status was 
settled; we had determined to become, as Teddy 
expressed it, “the hirelings of a grinding despot,” 
to fight under the flag of Maximilian and Bazaine. 

This had come about chiefly on account of my 
French mother and partial education in that land. 

Maurice de Rocheguyon, Colonel of the Twenty- 
fifth Imperial Infantry of the Line — the regiment 
which we had seen disembarking from the big trans- 
port — chanced to be my mother’s first cousin. 

At his quarters when I announced myself, the warm- 
hearted Frenchman shouted, his eyes starting from his 
head : 


lOO 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


'' Sacre tonnsrre de guerre! Par la barbe de Saint 
Pierre! It is the little Jacques! The helpless, puny 
infant that Marie showed me, when I saw her last in 
Paris before my leaving for Africa, has grown into the 
great boy before me ! To my arms, son of thy sainted 
mother! Embrace me!” 

This settled our side of the fight. “Ye can’t 
slaughter yer blood relatives,” Teddy had suggested. 
“Besides, old Rocheguyon can get commissions for us 
under the banner of Max.” 

“And so you are a soldier of fortune, Jacques?” 
the colonel said, when he had learned of my purpose. 
“The De Rocheguyon blood will not be denied, you 
see. Man after man of us has followed the trade, and 
we have not done so badly at it. I myself was a 
simple private in the ‘chasseurs d’Afrique ’ before you 
were a year old. And here I am to-day, colonel of a 
regiment. Parbleu! Irish blood is also a fighting 
strain, ” — he grinned at Callahan. ‘ ‘ Both West Point- 
ers — a military school that made its mark about here 
some eighteen years ago, eh? Both you and your 
young friend, mon cousin^ shall have my best offices to 
obtain for you rank in the army of Maximilian.” 

De Rocheguyon was to march with his regiment on 
the following morning, his destination being the city 
of Mexico, where he was to join the forces under com- 
mand of Marshal Bazaine. Teddy and I gladly availed 
ourselves of the colonel’s invitation to proceed in com- 
pany with his command. We were lucky indeed to 
happen on such a safe way of reaching the capital. 
For the road between Vera Cruz and Mexico was de- 
cidedly unsafe, the country swarming with numerous 
bands of guerrillas. These gentlemen, however, did 
not muster in sufficient numbers to molest a force of 
our strength, and our journey was made in peace. We 
proceeded slowly, for de Rocheguyon had orders to be 
careful of his men, unused as they were to the climate. 
But we reached the city of Mexico at last, and Tedd\ 
and I established ourselves in rooms on a street neai 
the Plaza Mayor. 

We lost no time in making our application for com 
missions. Maurice assured us that he had enlisted the 
personal efforts of Marshal Bazaine with the Mexican 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


ioi 


War Office in our behalf. But the days passed into 
weeks, and the weeks into months, without our ob- 
taining the fulfillment of our wishes. 

Meanwhile we led a pleasant, and I must confess, a 
somewhat dissipated life amid the enjoyments of the 
capital. Our intimacy with my cousin threw us much 
in the company of the French officers, and their gay 
spirit of reckless indifference to the graver events of 
life was easily caught and imitated by us. 

For months we lived a careless, merry life, spent in 
the pursuit of what we were taught to look upon as 
pleasure. Generally we rose at two or perhaps three 
o’clock in the afternoon, had our breakfasts and spent 
the hours until it was time for our daily ride, in smok- 
ing and reading the journals of the day. After our 
ride came dinner, then a promenade on the Plaza 
Mayor or through the \ongportales (colonnaded streets), 
where all the wealth and fashion of the city was wont 
to repair in the evenings. Then a visit to the theater, 
followed by a lively supper with our soldier friends. 
After that billiards or cards, with wine in abundance, 
often until break of day. How or when the gallant 
French officers obtained rest enough to enable them to 
perform their military duties was a mystery to me. 
But they never seemed to be the worse for the night’s 
carouse, and turned up regularly every evening ready 
for a renewal of the same program. 

Although I had an iron constitution, and rarely felt 
the worse for wear upon awakening, I was subject to 
occasional attacks of the “ blues.” Once in a while I 
would slip away from Teddy and wander about the 
streets until my brain was restored to its normal con- 
dition. 

On two of these desultory ramblings of mine events 
happened that were to have their bearing upon my 
career in the land of the Aztecs. The first incident 
came to pass in this wise. 

We had reached our rooms, Teddy and I, about four 
o'clock one morning in November, both considerably 
flushed with champagne. In spite of all my endeavors 
I was unable to sleep, and after rolling about on my 
bed for several hours, I rose in desperation, dressed, 
and went out for a walk. The heat and the exercise 


102 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


finally made me sensible of fatigue, and I was retrac- 
ing my steps in the hope that sleep would no longer 
hold herself aloof from my couch, when I heard a loud 
shouting in the street behind me. 

Turning, I saw the people fl5dng to the right and 
left, seeking the shelter of the patios^ or inner courts, 

^ of the houses that lined the avenue. With the speed 
of terror they fled; down the street, with blazing eyes 
and foam-dripping jaws, was running one of the num- 
berless curs that abound in Mexico. It was evident 
that he was mad with hydrophobia, and common-sense 
warned me to lose no time in placing myself out of his 
reach. But on the road, between the maddened brute 
and myself, a little girl was standing, unheeding or un- 
mindful of her danger; a slight, brown, bare-legged 
Mexican child, evidently a daughter of the populace, 
for her only garment was a dirty pink calico frock. 
She had a bunch of yellow flowers clasped in her little 
hands, and was smiling to herself over her treasure. 
The dog was very near her. 

I had left my revolver on the table at the head of 
my bed, and save a thick cane with a pointed iron 
ferule I was weaponless. The boys at the Point used 
to call me a good runner, but had they seen the bounds 
I made as I rushed between the wee maid and her 
savage assailant — for the dog had seen her and was in 
full rush to spring upon her — they would have agreed 
that I could not be surpassed in quickness of foot. 

I passed the child before harm could come to her, 
and halting quickly I held my stick out horizontally in 
front of me, offering it to the jaws of the enemy. He 
rose with a spring and seized the cane, as I had in- 
tended he should. With all my strength I dealt him a 
terrible kick in the stomach that made him drop on his 
back, snarling, in the road. Before he could regain 
his feet I thrust the iron end of my stick deep into the 
upturned white belly and fairly pinned him to the 
earth. He writhed and struggled furiously for a mo- 
ment, and strove to rise. But my arm was strong, and 
the seasoned wood resisted all his efforts. As he grew 
weaker I stamped my left foot again and again upon 
his throat and head, still holding him fast to the ground 
with my stick, and at last life was extinct in him and 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


103 


he lay motionless, a stream of gore soiling his pierced 
body and his head crushed by the blows of my cavelry 
heavy boot. 

Those who had viewed the manner of the cur’s death 
from places of safety now came forth to gape at his con- 
queror. But I had no desire to linger, and curtly bid- 
ding them make way was leaving the curious crowd, 
when a woman blocked my path. She held the rescued 
child in her arms and I at once put her down as the 
mother. 

“ Confound it ! ” I thought savagely. “ I’m in for 
a scene now, for she’ll cry and carry on, and probably 
keep me here an hour while she tells me how grateful 
she is.” 

But the woman did nothing of the kind. 

she said quietly, “I see that you are in 
haste, and I will not detain you. You have periled 
your life for the life of my little one, and if ever the 
hour comes for me to do you service you will not find 
me ungrateful. Will you do me the favor to remove 
your sombrero, that I may plainly see your face ? ” 

I took off the broad-brimmed Mexican headgear 
that a moment before I had pulled over my eyes, and 
the woman scanned my features sharply. 

“ Thank you, senor^ I will know you now wherever 
we may meet,” she said, and stepped back to let me 
proceed. As she did so the little one in her arms 
looked up at me and smiled, and her face, though not 
over clean, was so pretty that before I thought I had 
stooped and kissed the child. 

The mother smiled with pleasure, but at the same 
time I fancied that her eyes were full of tears. 

. “ God bless you, seiior ! ” she said as I turned away 
from her. “Your heart is as kind as your arm is 
strong." May the saints preserve you and make you 
happy! ” 

“Rather a curious sort of female,” I mentally de- 
cided as I went on to my room. “ Poorly dressed, 
but didn’t talk or look like one of the rabble, either. 
Wonder if I’ll ever see her again ? ” 

About ten days later I did see her again. And glad 
indeed was I that she was in my debt and anxious to 
show her gratitude. 


104 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Teddy had gone to the theater with de Rocheguyon, 
but I had refused to stir out of doors, telling them I 
wished to be alone. 

After they left me I strolled out for the purpose of 
enjoying the cool evening breeze, and, not knowing 
how to occupy myself, I wandered about the streets 
seeking amusement. I passed many of the fair sex 
who would gladly have taken charge of the discon- 
solate young “gringo,” who eyed them with indiffer- 
ence as they smiled at him, but would none of them. 
Finally I entered one of the numerous temples of 
Chance that abounded, and settled myself to have a 
wrestle with the tiger. 

The game was monte, and the stakes were heavy, as 
I could see from the stacks of golden coin in front of 
the players. I won from the first, and, reckless with 
my winnings, I doubled my bets again and again. As 
the game went on and the pile of gold before me grew 
steadily larger, the attention of the other players be- 
came centered upon my play. The suave dealer pulled 
the cards, with his unmoved, expressionless face be- 
traying no sign that the battle was going against 
him. But his capital was more limited than his nerve, 
and against my wonderful luck he was powerless to 
win. In short, I broke the bank, and when I left 
the place my pockets were weighted down with my 
winnings. 

I turned my steps toward de Rocheguyon’s quarters, 
knowing that the theater party would probably be 
there, or at all events would soon return. The streets 
were still peopled by occasional pedestrians, and, the 
police regulations of the French being good, I had no 
thought of danger, despite the sum I had upon my 
person. But as I passed the arched doorway of a 
house scarce half a block from the gaming-room, a 
heavy cloth was suddenly thrown over my head from 
behind, strong hands seized me, pinning my arms to 
my sides, I was lifted off my feet and borne away. I 
struggled desperately, but the stifling folds of the 
cloth were around me, my breath failed, my head went 
round and round, and I lost consciousness. 

When I regained my senses I was lying on the floor 
of a room that was unfamiliar to me, and a woman was 


A PASSING EMPEROR. lO^ 

bending over me chafing my temples with a handker- 
chief wet with spirits. 

“ He opens his eyes at last,” I heard her say, “and 
you may thank your guardian devil, wretch that you 
are, that you did not take his life as you planned ! For, 
had you killed him, I would have made you perish by a 
death of torment, such that you would have cried for 
hell itself as a relief.” Then her tone changed. She 
addressed me anxiously: “ Speak, senorj how is it with 
you? Can you breathe freely now ?” 

I sat up and looked about me. The room was 
sparsely furnished, but it was clean, and the surround- 
ings, in their plainness, betokened rather a desire for 
coolness than the pressure of want. Heavy matting 
covered the floor. There were several chairs of wicker- 
work, and a broad couch of plaited hide on a wooden 
frame occupied one corner. * A table stood near me, 
and on it were several decanters, cut-glass at that, 
whose contents seemed to have been brought into 
play in helping me back to consciousness. A box of 
cigars and a pack of cards had been shoved close to 
the table’s edge to make room for the bottles. Near 
them was piled a heap of gold, and my revolver lay 
beside it. 

The woman’s voice seemed familiar, and I looked 
inquiringly at her. 

“Yes, it is I, senor. The same, and yet not the 
same,” she said, laughing at me encouragingly. “ We 
have our ups and downs, some of us, and you see me 
to-night in somewhat better guise than when you made 
me your fast friend. Do you not recognize me, now 
that I am clad as a lady?” 

There was no mistake about it. The woman was 
the mother whose child I had preserved from the mad 
dog. But her appearance was greatly changed. She 
was clad in a rich gown of heavy silk. Her bare neck 
and shoulders were very beautiful as the light shone 
on them. In the coils of her thick, black hair flamed 
a scarlet flower of the tropics, and her brilliant dark 
eyes rivaled the luster of the diamonds that flashed in 
her ears. 

She was a handsome woman, very handsome I 
thought, and my eyes must have said as much. For 


io6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


she waved her hand toward the part of the room be- 
hind me, saying, Senor, my husband.” 

A slender, wiry little man, who walked with a limp, 
came forward to greet me as I rose. 

“The saviour of my child is doubly welcome to my 
house, senor,'' he said in courteous accents. “Thanks 
to Fortune, we were able to deliver you from the 
wretches who sought your life, as well as your purse, 
and ” 

But his wife imperiously cut him short. 

“A truce to your lies, Carlos!” she said in con- 
temptuous tones. Senor^ have you been long in 
Mexico? ” 

“I have lived in your country for some months,” I 
replied. 

“Had you lived here only a week you must have 
heard of El Cojo, the guerrilla. Your face speaks 
assent. Well, he stands before you. That man is 
Carlos Morales, better known as El Cojo. And, senor^ 
I am his wife! ” 

“Inez,” El Cojo began in angry expostulation, but 
she went on unheeding him. 

“He was in the card-room to-night, senor, and 
when you left he determined to have your gold. With 
Juan of Perote he waylaid you and carried you into 
our house to make an end of you. Fortunately I 
recognized you in time to save you from the cellar.” 

^^Senor^'* Morales said calmly, as I looked wonder- 
ingly from one to the other, “all that Inez says is 
true. I am El Cojo, and I did plan your death this 
night. For some weeks I have been here in the city, 
living under the very noses of the French and the Im- 
perialists. I saw you break the bank to-night, and 
you know what followed. But I ask you to believe 
this. Had I known that you were the gentleman who 
stood between my child and death, I would have shed 
the last drop of blood in my body rather than harm 
you.” 

“He would, seiior^ believe him! ” the robber’s wife 
reiterated. “ Steeped in crime as we are, our child 
is dear to us. And to him who preserved her we can 
never be aught but friends. See, your gold lies on 
the table ; your pistol is there, too. Take them and 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


107 


go. But never forget that what has happened to you 
was through mistake.” 

I took my money, and I slipped my revolver into the 
side pocket of my coat. Then I turned to El Cojo 
and said: 

“ Senor Morales, in spite of the request of your 
charming sehora that I depart, I am loathe to leave 
you. Can you not give me a glass of that excellent 
brandy you have there, and allow me to smoke a 
cigarette in your company before T bid you good 
night? I trust that you, too, sefwra^ will not be so 
unkind as to leave us, but will permit me to improve 
the acquaintance so happily begun.” 

El Cojo seemed astonished for a moment, but 
quickly recovered himself and frankly exclaimed: 

Por Dios! Seiior! no wonder that you had no 
harm from the dog ! A man of your nerve was never 
meant to die by the bite of a cur ! But by San Lo- 
renzo, there are few men in Mexico that would will- 
ingly linger in my company ! A glass of brandy you 
shall have with all my heart, and as many more as you 
wish to drink. You are at home, seiior^ my house and 
all in it are at your service. Should you so far honor 
us as to remain the entire night you will afford me 
great pleasure. Hola Juan !” 

A withered old Mexican, with sinister face and glit- 
tering eyes, appeared in the doorway. 

“ Supper in a quarter of an hour,” El Cojo com- 
manded. “ The senor will sup with me. And let a 
room be prepared for him, should he decide to sleep 
here. One word before you go, Juan. ’Twas he who 
saved the little Inez from the dog.” 

The aged scoundrel at the door had been regarding 
me with a malevolent gaze. But his expression 
changed wonderfully, and when he waited on us at 
table, he was most deferential and assiduous in his 
efforts to anticipate my wishes. 

“And now, seiior^ a glass of brandy,” Morales con- 
tinued. “ What you know of me is bad enough, I’ve 
no doubt, and much of it is true. You are a gentle- 
man and an honest man, seiior^ so I will not offer to 
drink with you. Your glass is there.” 

“ That’s not my way,” I said quickly. “ Get a glass 


io8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


yourself, or I will not drink. Now” — seeing that he 
had complied with my request — “ Senor Morales, 
whatever the life each one of us may lead, or what- 
ever political party he may follow, let that be laid 
aside. I drink health and friendship to you and your 
lady.” 

For I had an idea that it would be well to have a 
friend in El Cojo. I liked his wife, too, and longed to 
talk more with her. 

“You mean that, senor V' the guerrilla asked slowly, 
his eyes on my face. 

“ Thoroughly. Touch your glass with mine.” 

“ Health and friendship, senor El Cojo said as the 
glasses clinked, and I had formed another friendship. 

As I put down my glass and drew forward one of 
the wicker chairs to settle myself for a smoke, I hap- 
pened to glance at the beautiful Inez. 

Her cheeks had flushed, her magnificent eyes were 
fixed almost tenderly upon me. As she met my gaze 
her blush grew deeper and she lowered her eyes in 
confusion. 

El Cojo saw nothing of this, being engaged at that 
moment in busy search for his cigarette case. 

Perhaps it was strange for me to accept this bandit’s 
hospitality. But then I was a wild youngster in those 
days, always on the lookout for any unusual experi- 
ence, and ready to run any risk in following the incli- 
nation of the moment. And of this there is no doubt, 
that my acquaintance with Carlos Morales was to be of 
great benefit to me in the future. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the rost of the time I spent in 
his house that night. The supper that Juan served us 
was excellent, the table affording several Mexican 
dishes before unknown to me. And El Cojo was not 
sparing of his champagne. Probably it had cost him 
nothing to obtain it save a little bloodshed. 

The guerrilla talked freely of the eventful happenings 
in his stormy career, and he found me an eager listener. 
From what he told me I gained a new insight into the 
manner in which war was conducted in Mexico. And 
many little remarks and criticisms upon the methods of 
the generals on both sides I treasured up, finding them 
afterward to be tolerably true. Of all the Imperial 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


109 


leaders, he seemed to admire a certain General Mejia 
the most. 

“Marquez is cruel as a demon, but he has no idea of 
handling troops, though he can organize,” the bandit 
said. “ Miramon is brave, but ambitious and rash, 
and will please only himself. Mendez is a good soldier, 
but he lets personal feeling influence his military 
measures. Mejia, ‘Pap Tomasito,’ as they call him, 
is the best of them. Caramba! wlun you see his 
hideous yellow face above his horse’s ears, and a 
column of cavalry two or three lengths behind, it is 
time to leave the field, I can tell you. If you will go 
to Maximiliano, Sefior Bellhurst, take service with Pap 
Tomasito. He is a true soldier, brave but not cruel, 
like the most of them, and with him you will go far!” 

The guerrilla made these remarks after a fruitless 
attempt to induce me to offer my services to the 
Liberal party. 

“Where can I find this General Mejia? ” I asked, 
with interest. 

“ He is in the north, now, he and Miramon, but they 
will soon fall back on the capital, or else Maximiliano 
must reinforce them, for Escobedo is getting ready to 
push them with heavy forces.” 

“Well, if I get the opportunity I’ll try and see if 
he can be induced to give me a chance with him. 
Though I fear it will be wise for me not to mention 
your recommendation, Senor Morales,” I added, with 
a smile. 

^'‘Carrajo! No, indeed !” grinned El Cojo. “He 
knows me well, though, does Pap Tomasito, and were 
I once in his hands my lot would be short shrift and a 
long rope.” 

I prolonged my visit well on into the early morning 
hours. Morales did his best to entertain me with 
his tales of warfare, and the seilora was induced to 
permit us to hear her rendition of numerous Spanish 
love songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. Her 
voice was true and sweet, and she sang with much 
feeling and expression. So pleasantly did the time 
pass, that I lingered far longer than mere courtesy 
dictated. 

Finally, I took my leave, shaking the bandit heartily 


no 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


by the hand and kissing the fingers the beautiful Inez 
offered to my grasp. As I raised my head after doing 
so her voice came to me in a swift whisper, scarce 
audible, it was so low: 

“We shall meet again, senor j I will take care of 
that.” 


CHAPTER XII. 

UNDER THE IMPERIAL BANNERS. 

I DECIDED to say nothing about my nocturnal adven- 
ture, at least for the present, and Teddy and de Roche- 
guyon questioned me in vain as to the way in which I 
had spent the evening. 

On the next afternoon, however, as we were taking 
our customary jaunt on horseback, we passed a hand- 
some carriage wherein were seated the Senora Inez and 
her little daughter. The lady according me a charm- 
ing smile of invitation, I wheeled my horse and gal- 
loped beside them. The little girl, now clad in the 
garb of wealth, evidently knew me again, and smiled 
sweetly as she bade me '''‘bueno dias." Her mother was 
most cordial, and so engaging did I find her conversa- 
tion that when I left them I found it necessary to ride 
home at a sharp pace in order to arrive in time for a 
dinner party that Maurice was to give in the evening. 

De Rocheguyon rallied me unmercifully upon my 
acquaintance with the lovely Mexicana, and Teddy 
also was disposed to be jocular. But as we were un- 
dressing in our rooms that night, or rather the next 
morning, he said, “ I hope this is not another case like 
that of the Wrayburn woman, me son? ” 

“ Nonsense ! I chanced to do the lady a service some 
days ago, that’s all,” I replied calmly. 

“ Then look to it that that is all,” Callahan rejoined. 
“For it’s been told me that the Grea&ers are mighty 
jealous, and if a man shows much inclination for the 
society of their women he’s apt to get a knife in his 
back before he suspects what’s up.” 

“ I reckon I’m safe^ old man, so don’t worry. I’ve 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Ill 


met the lady’s husband and his conduct toward me w^as 
charming.” I laughed as I got into bed. 

Several times within the next few weeks I happened 
to meet the senora^ either while taking my ride or 
during evening promenades. I always joined her, for 
she seemed to expect it, and it was plain that she took 
pleasure in my society. Suddenly, however, these 
meetings ceased, and I saw no more of her. Though 
for some days I made it a point to frequent the places 
where I had met her, she did not appear again, and 1 
concluded that she must have left the city. 

Early in January, 1867, the Emperor returned from 
Orizaba. We saw him pass through the streets in his 
carriage drawn by four white mules, surrounded by his 
escort of Austrian lancers and hussars. He was a tall, 
handsomely built man, with blue eyes, fair hair and 
beard. He seemed to be of a kindly nature, and 
bowed repeatedly, smiling at the plaudits of the citi- 
zens who thronged to see him pass. 

Our view of the Mexican sovereign impressed us so 
favorably that both Teddy and I wrote personal appli- 
cations for entrance into his service and forwarded 
them to the palace, addressed to the Emperor. We 
also sent letters to General Marquez, who had come 
to Mexico with Maximilian, and to whose care, it was 
reported, the reorganization of the army had been 
intrusted. 

No results came from our epistles. But a few days 
later Mexican hatred for their French allies accom- 
plished for us what Gallic influence had failed to do. 

One evening, after dinner, the dauntless and firey 
Callahan publicly thrashed a burly corporal of a French 
line regiment for brutally assaulting a little Mexican 
bootblack. In this Teddy had been assisted by me, 
to the extent of keeping the soldier’s comrades from 
interfering, the affair taking place in front of one of 
the principal cafh. 

The Mexicans who had viewed our prompt punish- 
ment of the hated foreign “liberators” were loud in 
their praise of our strength and bravery, and many of 
them insisted on shaking us warmly by the hand. As 
we were about walking on I felt a touch on my 
shoulder, and turning I found myself face to face with 


112 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


a perfect stranger, clad in the Mexican scrape^ and 
wearing a broad sombrero upon his head. 

He was a little, dark man, alert and lively in de- 
meanor, with a pair of the most sharply inquisitive 
black eyes that I ever saw. His long hair was black, 
and a heavy beard of the same color covered the 
greater part of his face. But it could not hide the 
scar of a nasty wound that disfigured one of his 
cheeks. 

Though dressed as one of the common people, he 
did not want for assurance, and his tone as he spoke 
to me betrayed no expectation of a rebuff. 

“Magnificently done, senors^ magnificently done!” 
he said in quick and somewhat harsh tones. “You 
finished those cursed French braggarts in a way that 
did me good to see. What are your names ? And 
where do you live ? ” 

Though our names and addresses were none of the 
little man’s business, I thought there could be no 
harm in telling them to him, and accordingly fur- 
nished him with the information he desired. 

“Very good! ” he said abruptly. “You shall hear 
from me to-morrow. ” 

With that he was gone, leaving us to wonder at his 
strange behavior. 

About ten o’clock next morning we were aroused by 
our landlord, who apologized for disturbing our rest, 
giving us as a reason the fact that a lancer of the 
Austrian guard had just come from the palace, bearing- 
letters for the Senors Callahan and Bellhurst. The 
missive intended for me ran as follows: 

“The General Don Leonardo Marquez expects the Senor 
Bellhurst at three o’clock this afternoon.” 

Teddy’s letter was worded in the same way. 

“ Not very official-looking, I must say,” was my 
comment, after reading the note. “What do you 
make of it, old man ? ” 

“They’ve decided to give us an answer to our 
letters, I suppose,” said Teddy, turning his billet over 
and over again in his fingers. “ That’s all the reason 
I can give for his sending for us. Still, this looks 
irregular to me. Jack. But maybe they don’t do 
things in Mexico as we do ’em at home.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


So at a few minutes to three o’clock that afternoon 
we passed through the doors of the palace, unques- 
tioned by the sentinels on guard. A polite usher 
showed us the direction we must take to find General 
Marquez, and presently we found ourselves in a 
spacious ante-chamber filled with persons who were 
waiting to see the general, most of them in military 
dress. 

Immediately on our entrance we were accosted by a 
slender young Mexican, wearing the uniform of the 
staff, who suavely demanded our errand. In answer, 
we handed him the letters we had received in the 
morning. 

After a glance at their contents, the officer said in 
tones of respect : “A special appointment, I perceive.” 

After a few minutes our aid-de-camp announced : 
“ His Excellency awaits the Senors Bellhurst and 
Callahan.” Bowing profoundly, he stepped aside to 
let us pass, and then the door closed upon us. 

We were in a small, but richly furnished cabinet. 
Near the one window was a flat-topped desk, and be- 
hind it there sat an officer wearing a uniform that 
blazed with golden embroidery and decorations. As 
we stepped forward, he motioned us to be seated, ris- 
ing as he did so, and then I recognized in him the in- 
quisitive little stranger of the night before. 

“ I am glad to see that you are prompt, senors,'' he 
said, after we were seated. “ How are the fists to-day ? 
Quite uninjured, I hope ? No cuts nor bruises from 
the faces of those accursed French, eh ? Dios, how 
you did handle them, though ! Can you do as much 
for the Liberals, should I give you an opportunity ?” 

“ We are willing to try, should you be pleased to 
employ our services. General,” I replied, showing no 
sign of the astonishment I felt in discovering the iden- 
tity of General Marquez with the witness of our street 
row. “ It is the fondest wish of the Senor Callahan 
and myself to obtain commissions in the army of the 
Emperor. ” 

“Commissions, eh ?” Marquez said rather sarcasti- 
cally. “ You want to be officers at once, then ? And 
why .? What qualifications do you possess to fit you to 
command the soldiers of the Emperor?” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


II4 


“ Before I answer you, General, will you do me the 
favor of telling me whether letters from the Senor 
Callahan and myself have reached you?” I asked. ‘‘ In 
them we have set forth our military qualifications.” 

“ Your letters ? Yes, I have them here,” he said, 
turning over some papers on his desk. “I see from 
them that both of you have had over three years’ train- 
ing at the military college of the United States. Why 
did you leave there ?” 

“We were court-martialed and dismissed,” I 
answered without hesitation. “The charge was in- 
toxication, and it was true. ” 

Marquez eyed me for a moment, and then remarked, 
with a sneering smile: 

“ And do you think that fact will recommend you to 
the service of the Emperor ?” 

“Unfortunately, General, I fear that it may prove 
a hindrance to our entering your army. But I wished 
you to know the truth since you asked me for it.” 

“ We will lay that part of the question aside for a 
moment,” said Marquez, after a pause. “ What I wish 
you to tell me now is, what can you do, you and your 
comrade? What military abilities do you possess? ” 

“ We have seen no actual warfare. General,” I told 
him; “but either of us can handle anybody of in- 
fantry or cavalry not exceeding a regiment in size. 
And either one of us is able to command a battery of 
artillery, field-guns, siege-guns, or mortars.” 

“ Humph! So you want to be colonels at once, do 
you? ” Marquez said with a grunt. 

Before I could reply, Callahan answered, with cool 
impudence: “We wouldn’t decline, if ye have any 
spare regiments to hand over to us, Gineral.” 

General Marquez laughed. He seemed to rather 
fancy Teddy’s tone of assurance. 

“I’m afraid, though, senors^ that I can’t make you 
colonels at the very beginning. But if you should feel 
that the grade of captain — hold ! I am getting on too 
fast. Have you had experience in breaking recruits 
into shape — in drilling and making soldiers of them?” 

“Have we? Oh! Holy Mother! Jack, listen to 
that! ” 

“We are well up in the school of the drill-sergeant, 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


General,” I hastened to interrupt. “The training at 
West Point in that respect is very thorough ” 

“Then you are the men I want,” Marquez said with 
decision. “ Now listen to me attentively. My ta.sk 
at present is to hurry on the organizing and disciplin- 
ing of an army for the Emperor, here in the city, as 
rapidly as possible. We are confident that his Ma- 
jesty’s cause must succeed, but the late defeat of 
General Miramon at San Jacinto makes it imperative 
for us to move with vigor, and place fresh forces in 
the field before Escobedo can profit by his success. It 
is of especial importance that our cavalry shall be 
effective. Recruits, enough to make a small squad- 
ron, have just come in for the regiment of Colonel 
Diaz. I have seen much of the efficiency of the 
officers of the United States, and if you will under- 
take the task of drilling these men I will employ 
you.” . 

“ May I ask what rank you offer us? ” I asked, as 
Marquez stopped and tried to read the impression his 
words had made. on us from the expression of our 
faces. 

“Your commissions will be somewhat irregular. 
You shall both have the rank of captains, and though 
under the orders of Colonel Diaz, and for the time offi- 
cers of his regiment, you will be liable to a transfer to 
any other regiment, in any branch of the service, where 
I may see fit to place you. Always with the understand- 
ing that you shall hold no lower rank than the grade of 
captain, assigned to you now if you accept. How do 
you like my terms? ” the Mexican said, glancing 
from Teddy to me, and from me back to Teddy. 

“As I understand you, general, we shall be a sort of 
special drill officers, liable to be sent wherever you 
may think us likely to be useful,” I returned slowly. 
“ Would that not prove an effectual bar to our promo- 
tion? “ 

“Ah, that’s where the shoe pinches, eh?” the Gen- 
eral said, and a smile played about his lips. “ No, por 
Dios! You have only to deserve promotion to obtain 
it. I promise you that, on the faith of Leonardo- Mar- 
quez. Will that satisfy you?” 

“Perfe'ctly, sir. I think that my friend will agree 


ii6 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


with me that we should be fools not to accept 
your offer,” I said, looking at Teddy, who bowed his 
head in assent. 

Marquez took two broad parchments, already bear- 
ing the imperial seal, from a drawer. Referring for 
a moment to the letters we had written him, he seized 
a pen and wrote my name across the face of one paper 
and Teddy’s upon the other. Then he rose and of- 
fered us the papers. As I took mine I glanced at it 
before folding it up and placing it in my breast pocket. 
It was my commission as captain in the army of the 
Emperor Maximilian. The number of the regiment and 
the branch of the service were left blank. 

We placed the precious papers in safety, and then 
both rose, buttoned our coats, stood at attention, and 
saluted. 

“We await your orders, your excellency!” I said, 
taking a leaf out of the aid-de-camp’s book. 

General Marquez did not look ill-pleased at my so 
styling him. 

“ El Capitan Bellhurst and El Capitan Callahan,” 
he replied, giving us our future military titles, “you 
will lose no time in reporting to Colonel Diaz, under 
whose orders you will be for the present. You will, 
of course, furnish yourselves with uniforms before re- 
porting. As you are attached to no regiment, you 
may dress as captains of the staff. Have you horses?” 

“We have one horse apiece, your Excellency,” was 
my answer. “What forage allowances will be made 
us?” 

“You may have forage for three. Procure the other 
animals as soon as possible, for you will have plenty of 
work for them. Do not wait for the morning, but 
report to Colonel Diaz this very night. Good after- 
noon.” 


CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MARCH TO QUER]ETARO. 

As we had possessed enough confidence in the future 
to order uniforms, both full-dress and fatigue, made 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


II7 

for as soon after our arrival in the city, we were well 
provided in that respect. Our first act after leaving 
the palace was to hasten to a military furnisher’s shop 
and procure the insignia of our rank. With these we 
returned to our lodgings and made our preparations 
for departure. 

We donned our uniforms and buckled on our 
sabers, excellent weapons that we owed to the kind- 
ness of de Rocheguyon. As five o’clock struck we 
descended to the street, and, mounting our horses, 
rode over to Maurice’s quarters, to inform him of 
our good luck and bid him good-by for the present. 

We had been told that we would find Colonel Diaz 
quartered at the Hacienda de Limas, nearly two miles 
beyond the city, on the road to Tepeji. It was quite 
dark when we rode into the patio and dismounted 
before the door pointed out to us as the colonel’s 
office. 

The adjutant at once assured us that all had been 
provided for, as special orders from General Marquez 
concerning us had come to the colonel that afternoon. 
Then observing that the colonel and his officers were 
at dinner, he requested us to join them. 

Colonel Antonio Diaz was a very handsome man, and 
bore a good reputation as a soldier. He received us 
with great courtesy, and paid especial attention to our 
wants during the meal. As he said good-night he 
added that our men would be ready for us next morning. 

Accordingly, on the following day we found them 
drawn up in the patio one hundred and seventy strong. 
They were all sizes and ages, and for the most part 
well mounted. The greater number were vaqueros 
gathered from the haciendas and ranches of the valley, 
and their jackets and trousers of red Mexican leather 
gave them something of a uniform appearance. They 
were totally ignorant of the first principles of military 
drill. But one thing was of great help to us — they 
rode to perfection and had their horses under absolute 
control. 

After tne first morning’s drill, as I reined up before 
the quarters assigned to me, I saw that a “peon” was 
standing before the steps of the veranda holding the 
bridle of a magnificent sorrel horse. Supposing that 


n8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


he belonged to some superior officer — for the charger 
wore a handsome military saddle and bridle — I was 
about to pass after dismounting when the “peon" 
stepped forward and said: 

“El Capitan Bellhurst?" 

“.S’/," I answered. 

He handed me a note. Breaking the seal I read, 
written in French: 

“ You are now an officer of Maximilian, and therefore our 
enemy. That you may remember me, even though in a hostile 
camp, I send you this horse. He is of great speed and endur- 
ance. Bui though he were the best on all the earth, yet would 
he be unworthy to carry you upon his back. You can divine 
who I am, can you not? For prudence forbids that I should 
tell you. ” 

The writing was in a female hand, and I was at no 
loss to guess who the fair sender was. Nevertheless I 
turned to question the “peon." But he was gone, 
and nowhere could I find a trace of him. 

Meanwhile my new mount was standing motionless 
before the steps. I sprang upon the sorrel’s back 
and galloped him about, feeling his mouth and putting 
him through his paces. Never had I been more ad- 
mirably horsed. My charger moved as if set on springs, 
betraying no signs of viciousness, and two or three 
spurts at a full run showed that the letter had not 
lied in calling him speedy. I drew my saber and 
whizzed it about his head, but neither by this nor by 
the banging of my scabbard, which I purposely allowed 
to fly free, was he in the least discomposed. I fired 
my revolver in the air several times, and he stood 
like a rock Clearly the horse was a jewel, and I 
gave mental thanks to the Senora Inez for the present. 
For I did not doubt that he came from her. 

That afternoon I had a talk with my lieutenants and 
the non-commissioned officers who were to assist me in 
forming a serviceable cavalry company from the re- 
cruits I had just inspected. Though the Mexican 
soldier was, as I knew, treated as little better than a 
dog by his superiors, I was determined, if possible, to 
inspire a soldierly spirit in the men intrusted to me. 
Therefore I told the sergeants and corporals that un- r 
der no pretense must they think of resorting to blows I 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


II9 

to enforce obedience. To my lieutenants, after the 
non-commissioned officers had been dismissed, I ap- 
pealed to second my work to the utmost of their power, 
promising that I would bring them to the personal 
notice of General Marquez at my first opportunity. 
As my efforts to become on good terms with them were 
untiring, and the progress of the company interested 
them in spite of themselves, by the middle of the 
second week they were working as hard as I was. 

From the day after our joining Colonel Diaz our 
life had little variety. It was drill, drill, drill, from 
dawn to sunset. 

Still my fellows found that though they were worked 
unceasingly they got better treatment as far as their 
pride went than the older soldiers of the regiment. 
And now, with the corporals’ chevrons as the prize, 
those “ Greasers” worked as they had never worked 
before. 

My skill in handling weapons commanded their re- 
spect — for the manual of arms was begun at the same 
time with the tutoring in marching — and the fact that 
I mingled in the ranks during such instruction, over- 
seeing the work of each man in turn, fencing with 
them and showing them how to handle their carbines, 
made me better known to them personally than I could 
otherwise have become. 

At meal times, too, I walked about among them and 
was vigilant to see if they were getting all the provi- 
sions that the regimental quartermaster had orders to 
furnish them. My conduct in this respect differed 
from that of the Mexican officers, who cared little 
whether their men starved or not, provided their own 
bellies were filled. And all these things the men under 
my command noted. 

What made my success surpass even my wildest 
hopes was the fact that my fellows were such perfect 
riders. The idea of formation by fours and in line once 
placed in their heads, and the theory of effecting the 
different evolutions explained, they did wonders. 
As they were kept hard at it, at the end of six weeks 
th^ troops commanded by Captain Callahan and Cap- 
tain Bellhurst could show to better advantage than 
any other in the regiment of Colonel Diaz. 


120 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


During the last days of January, we learned from 
the Mexican officers that rumors were rife in the cap- 
ital to the effect that the French were shortly to 
evacuate the city. And on the third day of February 
a letter from Maurice, delivered by his servant Pierre, 
assured me that what I had heard was true, and that the 
forces of Bazaine were to leave Mexico on the fifth of 
the month. My relative deplored the fact that he 
would be unable to say farewell to me in person, say- 
ing that his orders would not allow of his coming out 
to the hacienda for that purpose. And as far as my 
coming into the town for a last interview went, he 
begged me not to think of it; for the feeling against 
the French had risen to such a pitch that any manifes- 
tation of friendship for them on my part might do me 
incalculable harm. 

So I was forced to let the colonel depart without 
shaking him by the hand. On the fifth of February 
his regiment marched for Vera Cruz with the rest of 
Marshal Bazaine’s troops. 

The departure of the French made the position of 
the Emperor Maximilian a difficult one to sustain. But 
he did not seem to want confidence, however, and his 
proclamations were full of hope. 

Marquez worked unceasingly to create an army, and 
the church party promised uncounted wealth for his 
military chest. 

As for us, we drilled our troops as busily as before, 
and I began to long for an opportunity to see what my 
vaqueros could do on the field of battle. 

On the afternoon of the thirteenth day of February, 
the regiment was marched toward the City of Mexico, 
and halted in line facing the road just outside the town. 
At six o’clock the Emperor and General Marquez, fol- 
lowed by a numerous staff, rode forth, and behind 
them we could see the head of a column of troops. The 
imperial party rode slowly along our front, and took 
up a position to the right of our line. Colonel Diaz 
rode up to General Marquez, and after a short consul- 
tation returned to the regiment, which was then passed 
in review along the road toward the north, in column 
of platoons. 

As the Emperor passed before us, and as we in turn 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I2I 


defiled before him, I had a good opportunity to note 
every detail of his appearance. He rode a splendid 
piebald horse, equipped with Mexican saddle and 
bridle. His Majesty wore a sombrero^ and was dressed 
in full general’s uniform, but without the epaulettes 
High boots reached to his knees, and into their tops 
his dark trousers were tucked. A saber hung at his 
side, and he had two revolvers in his belt. His right 
hand held a large single field-glass, through which he 
carefully scanned the troops as they passed. 

Once past the staff we broke into column of fours 
and continued our march, still toward the north. It 
soon became plain to us that the day’s work was only 
begun, and that some military movement was in prog- 
ress. 

All through the morning we rode along the dusty 
highway, in ignorance of our destination. But during 
the noon-day halt Colonel Diaz let slip the news that 
we were bound for Quer^taro, to join the forces of 
General Miramon. 

After the men had enjoyed an hour’s rest and a 
slender meal of frijoles (beans) and tortillas (cold grid- 
dle cakes of maize), we took the route again. 

We halted for the night at Quicliclan. 

When on the march, Mexican officers are accus- 
tomed to lock their men up in their quarters over 
night, to prevent desertion. The troops under Teddy 
and myself did not receive such humiliating treatment. 
And after our men had finished their suppers they sat 
about the doors of the houses allotted to them, smok- 
ing and enjoying the cool evening air. 

Callahan and I were sitting together, too sleepy to 
have much to say to each other, when we heard a 
sharp voice down the street inquiring: 

“Who commands here? ” 

We walked in the direction of the voice, without 
undue haste however, and presently came upon a 
mounted officer surrounded by several of our troopers. 
It was General Marquez, returning from a visit to the 
outposts. 

“Ah! It’s you,, is it?” he said as we saluted. 
“Why is it that I find your men at liberty, and not 
safe for the night?” 


122 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


^‘We have given them permission to enjoy the even- 
ing breeze until nine o’clock, your excellency.” I 
answered. “At that hour they will retire to their 
quarters.” 

“ And at that hour how many of the rascals will be 
here? Don’t you know that they will desert on the 
slightest chance being given them? Cuerno de Satanas ! 
I had hoped better things of your vigilance, especially 
after the fine showing your men made this morning. 
But it seems I was mistaken.” 

“General,” Teddy said in firm tones, “I’ll answer 
for it that not one of our men will be missing in the 
morning. If you will allow us to have our companies 
quietly assembled now. I’ll wager you any amount you 
please that every trooper will answer his name.” 

“You forget yourself. Captain Callahan,” Marquez 
said. But his tone was less harsh. I think he had a 
liking for Teddy. “ Make the trial, however.” 

We found our first sergeants, and they were immedi- 
ately gliding in and out among the houses. In ten 
minutes our companies were drawn up in the street, 
every man fully^ armed, though not horsed. The rolls 
were called out, and the reports were : 

“All present, sefior capitan ! ” 

'■'‘Chinga! I wouldn’t have believed it,” was the 
verdict of General Marquez. He eyed the men 
for a while as they stood in the ranks, and then him- 
self gave the sign for their dismissal. As he left us, 
he said cordially: 

“ You will go far, you two; your men are evidence 
of that. For Dios ! with soldiers like that one can do 
anything. Continue your own methods, but don’t fall 
into the mistake of being too kind. If you would suc- 
ceed in Mexico, you must harden your hearts, I can 
tell you. Blopd is to be shed, and the man that causes 
the most to flow will earn the highest rewards.” 

“To judge from your record that’s pretty true,” 
muttered Teddy to himself as the general rode away 
into the town. “But it’s not every one that can be 
such a damned cold-blooded butcher as they say you 
are ! ” 

During the night General Don Santiago Vidaurri 
joined us from the City of Mexico. He brought with 


A I^ASSING EMPEROR. 


123 


him the German Prince Salm-Salm, a detachment of 
the hussars of Khevenhuller, under Captain Echegaray, 
and a body of Cavalleros des los Fronteros. 

On the next day we marched to Tepeji del Rio. I 
remained behind the regiment with about half of my 
company when the army left Quicliclan, being detailed 
to search the village for deserters. My duty accom- 
plished I pushed my horses to a gallop and passed by 
the whole of our forces on the march to gain my 
proper place in the column. I was much surprised at 
the small number of troops the Emperor had with him. 
Reports had stated that his force numbered ten thou- 
sand men. Maximilian marched to Queretaro with but 
eighteen hundred soldiers and three six-gun batteries 
of smooth-bored guns! 

The fourth day, February 18, the army reached 
Colorado, and we were but four leagues from Quere- 
taro. 

Expresses from the city brought word to us that the 
Generals Miramon, Castillo, and Mejia, held the place, 
and that the arrival of General Mendez was hourly ex- 
pected. We resumed our march in the morning, and 
about ten o’clock, on the nineteenth of February, we 
arrived before Queretaro. 


CHAPTER X:iV. 

THE GIRL I didn’t LEAVE BEHIND ME. 

As our column marched over the brow of the Cuesta 
China, a high hill south of the city, and about three 
hundred yards from the gate of Mexico, we found the 
road lined with the population of the town. Young 
and old, men, women, and children, were there, and 
the enthusiastic shouts of Viva el Emperador!" 
Maximilian rode along before them, proved that the 
good citizens of Queretaro had fallen off in no respect 
from the allegiance they had always borne to his cause. 

Between the Cuesta China and the gate of Mexico 
the garrison of the town was drawn up, the Generals 
Miramon, Mejia, Castillo, Escobar, Arellano, Valdez, 


124 A PASSING EMPEROR. 

Casanova, and the Prefect of the city, accompanied by 
a numerous staff, at their head. 

We halted for a time while the General Miramon, 
and after him the General Escobar, gave the Emperor 
greeting. Maximilian answered their welcoming ad- 
dresses with an appropriate speech, and our march was 
resumed. 

Entering the city we found the streets decorated and 
the houses gay with flags to do us honor. 

The Emperor rode at once to the Casino, where, for 
the present, he was to make his headquarters. His 
troops were quartered with the garrison, as far as pos- 
sible, and the remainder were billeted upon the peo- 
ple. My troopers were among the last mentioned, and 
I myself found a comfortable room in a little street 
near the Colegio de la Santa Cruz (usually spoken of 
as the Cruz), in the southeastern part of the city. 

I was far from expecting active service, for some 
days at least. But hardly was I risen from the break- 
fast-table next morning when an aid-de-camp from 
headquarters brought me orders to repair at once to 
the Casino and report to Marquez. 

I found the General busy in examining a mass of pa- 
pers, in company with two other officers, one of them 
a handsome man of elegant appearance, thirty-four or 
thirty-five years of age at most, with dark hair, mous- 
tache and imperial ; the other, a little chap fully ten 
years his senior, yellow as a lemon in color, with hor- 
ribly ugly features. The most notable thing about his 
face was a huge, cavernous mouth, on whose upper lip 
a few black bristles stood stiffly out, doing duty for a 
moustache. Both officers were m general’s uniform, 
and among the orders on the breast of the elder I rec- 
ognized the officer’s cross of the French Legion of 
Honor. 

When I was announced, Marquez laid aside his pa- 
pers and rose from his chair, saying : “Here is our 
man. The one I have sent for in regard to the affair 
of yesterday afternoon. The American merchant and 
his family, you remember. I am happy to see you 
looking so well after the late march, Captain Bell- 
hurst.” 

“ Your excellency’s example assisted us to bear the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 12 $ 

fatigues of the road with fortitude,” I replied, bowing 
deeply. Somehow I had an idea that flattery was not 
distasteful to General Marquez. 

He did not seem displeased at mine, at all events, 
and answered in satisfied tones : 

“Yes, I have made war in my time. And though 
the pen has been in my hand oftener than the sword 
of late, I have not forgotten how to march. I 
fancy that in the handling of troops I can show many 
of our officers a few trifling things that they are un- 
familiar with still, even you, Senor Bellhurst, with your 
astonishing record as a drill-master. El Capitan Bell- 
hurst is a man after your own heart, Mejia,” he con- 
tinued, speaking to the little yellow man, who there- 
upon glowered at me with the grin of a demon. “ He 
is a cavalryman through and through, and I will wager 
that you will take note of him before many days. As 
he is a countryman of the persons in peril, he will be 
doubly anxious to effect their rescue. That reminds 
me that we had better expedite the matter, so that the 
party we send may make an early start.” 

The General rang a small bell. An officer appeared, 
to whom Marquez said briefly: “Bring in the 
prisoner.” 

Marquez, Mejia, and the third officer, whom I soon 
learned was the General Miramon, resumed their 
chairs, and I remained standing. Presently the 
tread of marching men was heard, and a file of 
cavalrymen appeared at the door. Between the first 
two walked an unarmed Mexican, evidently the 
prisoner. 

The soldiers halted at the door, but their charge, 
on command of General Marquez, advanced into the 
room. 

The man before us looked like the lowest type of 
Mexican scoundrel. A greasy silken handkerchief, 
once gay with bright colors but now worn and soiled, 
was bound about his temples; from under it the snaky 
locks of his black hair fell upon his neck. His face 
was dark, the features low and cunning, and his nose 
had been broken by a blow from some heavy weapon. 
Over a striped and filthy calico shirt he wore a tattered 
ranchero jacket of dark green velvet, and a pair of 


126 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


red leather calzoneros covered his legs, the sides being 
left unbuttoned half-way up the leg to show his 
stamped botas. 

Although the fellow seemed a thoroughly undesir- 
able person to know, and the fact that his arms 
were tightly bound behind his back made it evident 
that his captors deemed it wise to use every precaution 
to keep him safe in their power. 

'‘ElCapitan Bellhurst,” General Marquez said as 
soon as the door was closed, “you will pay close 
attention to what I am about to say. Yesterday after- 
noon an esteemed and worthy citizen of Queretaro, 
Ramon Portales, the banker, came to the headquarters 
of General Miramon, and related the following story: 
Senor Portales, it seems, has been expecting the com- 
ing of a very wealthy American gentleman to Quere- 
taro, the said American being well-known to the Senor 
Portales through many business transactions between 
them. About noon yesterday the Senor Portales 
received a note at the hands of the prisoner before 
you, stating that his friend, together with his family, 
had fallen into the power of a guerrilla leader, and 
would be released on payment of five thousand pesos 
d’oro. The note declared that the lives of the 
captives would answer for the bearer’s safety. 

Furthermore it said that if the money were not in 
the hands of the bandit chief by noon on the twenty- 
first he would execute his prisoners. Senor Portales 
detained the messenger under pretense of going in 
quest of money, and instead informed General Mira- 
mon of the affair. The bandit’s envoy was arrested, 
and after some persuasion (here I noticed that the 
captive robber shivered, evidently from some other 
cause than the temperature) told all he could of the 
whereabouts of the guerrilla band. It has been decided 
to send a party to rescue the unfortunates, and I in- 
tend to place you in command. Do you think you can 
successfully accomplish the task? ” 

“Undoubtedly, your excellency,” I made reply. “I 
only await your orders to be gone.” 

“You must have a guide, though,” General Marquez 
said. “The brigands do not muster in very heavy 
force, scarcely fifty men, this rascal states. Their 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


127 


camp is in the mountains about fifteen miles south- 
west of Queretaro. But I am at a loss to know how 
you are to find them, for they are, without doubt, 
keeping under cover.” 

“This gentleman here will be able to lead me 
straight to the camp,” I said, laying my hand on the 
prisoner’s shoulder. “ He can show me a way of ap- 
proach, I am sure, that will prevent the brigands from 
discovering our presence until we are in the midst of 
them.” 

“Ay! true!” Marquez said reflectively. “But will 
he guide you without treachery? That is the point to 
consider. ” 

“ Will your excellency place the prisoner completely 
at my disposal?” I questioned. “May I use what 
measures I please to insure his fidelity as a guide? ” 

“If you think you can make him serve you, pro- 
ceed,” answered Marquez, laughing. “ For my part 
I make him over to you to do with as you please. Let 
us hear, though, how you intend to deal with him. I 
am curious to know how an American unlocks a 
Mexican’s tongue.” 

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know whether I 
would have had the heart to carry out what I threat- 
ened, had my villain proved deaf to what I said. 
Only one circumstance made me think of threatening 
the wretch with such dreadful punishment in case he 
refused to be my guide. The general had said that an 
American and his family were in the hands of the ban- 
ditti. “Family” meant women, I was sure. The 
thought of American ladies at the mercy of a crew of 
villainous “Greasers,” like the specimen before me, 
made me feel that I could commit any cruelty before I 
would see harm come to them. 

“ Look at me, dog! ” I said to the prisoner in Span- 
ish. “ Look at me, and tell me your name.” 

The viperous little black eyes met mine for a second 
and then shifted their glance swiftly: 

“ Fabian Baraja,” he muttered. 

“Then Fabian Baraja, answer me truly. Do you 
enjoy the light of day? Is it a pleasure for you to gaze 
at the blue sky, the green earth, the bright colored 
birds, and the flowers? Answer!’’ 


128 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ No entiende, senor ” (“I don’t understand, sir ”), 

was the indifferent reply. 

“ You will understand in a moment. Listen again! 
You know where the band you belong to is camping. 
You must go with me and guide my party to the place. 
You must bring us there by a road that will allow us to 
approach the camp unseen. You must show us how 
to come so near your comrades that we will have them 
at our mercy before they dream that they are in danger. 
You are able to do this, I am sure.” 

^^Quien sabeV (“Who knows?”) the wretch re- 
marked, with a suspicion of a grin upon his evil 
face. 

“I know,” I said fiercely. “You^««do this and 
porDios! you shall do it! Hearken! You shall go 
with me, and you shall be so guarded that you cannot 
escape. I will follow your guidance, and my troops 
shall move in accordance with your directions. If the 
Americano and his people are safe with my men by six 
o’clock to-morrow morning, I will give you your free- 
dom and fifty pesos d’oro.” The scoundrel’s eyes 
glittered with a momentary flash of greed, then they 
were as expressionless as before. “If by the hour I 
name,” I continued, “the deliverance of my country- 
man has not been effected, you shall receive at my 
hands this! Both your eyes shall be put out, each 
finger and thumb shall be cut from both your hands, 
every toe shall be severed from your feet, your tongue 
shall be torn from your jaws, and I will turn you loose, 
when your wounds are cured, to wander a beggar, help- 
less to inflict injury on any person, even the most 
feeble. I will give you one minute to make your 
choice. Which shall it be? The fifty pesos, or the 
life of a maimed, dumb, blind beggar? ” I took out 
my watch. 

Fabian Baraja gave an earnest look at my counte- 
nance. What he read there I don’t know, but he said 
with haste : 

“ I take fifty pesos, senor.*' 

Marquez gave a roar of savage laughter as I replaced 
my watch in my pocket. 

Santis sima Firgen/"'he shouted. “You reveal 
your soldierly qualities more and more, Captain ! You 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


129 


are a treasure, and I bless the day that I found you. 
When will you start on your expedition? ” 

“If we leave at sunset can we reach the place in 
time? ” I inquired of the now abject Baraja. 

“ That will give you ample time, Seiior Capitan^" he 
said positively. “ For the road I shall follow is the 
most direct,' as well as the safest.” 

“How many men may I take, your excellency?” 
I asked the general. 

“Your whole troop, if you like. I will give orders 
that they be excused from duty to-day, so that they 
may be fresh for their night’swork,” Marquez answered. 
“If you have nothing further to request, Capitan^ you 
may go. ” 

Motioning to Baraja to follow me, I bowed and left 
the room. Once outside, I handed the fellow over to 
the guards, telling them that by order of General 
Marquez he was to be brought to my quarters at half- 
after four that afternoon, and requesting them to treat 
him well in the mean time, taking measures, however, to 
insure his captivity. Then I left the Casino and went 
in search of Teddy. His lamentations because he was 
not to join in the rescuing party were great, and I could 
hardly prevent him from going to call upon the general, 
in order to request that he might accompany me. 

I lunched with Callahan, and about three o’clock I 
went back to the house near the Cruz, where I had 
rooms. Sending for my first-sergeant, I ordered him 
to assemble the men under arms before my house at a 
quarter to five o’clock. I also summoned my lieutenants 
Yanez and Carrasco, and told them of the work before 
us. 

Promptly at the appointed hour a squad of the 
hussars of Khevenhiiller brought Fabian Baraja. I let 
him remain bound until we were ready to start, and 
then cut the ropes that tied him, cautioning him to 
make no effort to effect an escape. Corporal Cardenas 
came to my room at my command, and to him I 
intrusted the guardianship of our guide, telling him 
that the man must not be allowed to slip away from 
him, but that on no condition must his life be taken. 

Cardenas swore that under his vigilant eye Baraja 
would be as safe as if he were locked in the dungeons 


130 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


of the fort. Aud I felt confident that my guide would 
be found whenever I wanted him. As the sun was 
sinking we left Queretaro, by the gate of Pueblito, and 
rode at a rapid pace toward the southwest. For some 
miles after we passed the outposts we followed the road. 
But at last our friend Baraja declared that we must 
strike off across the country. Cardenas had mounted 
the scoundrel in front of him, and had tied a rope 
around both their bodies. Two strong troopers rode 
on either side, and were ready to seize the slippery 
Fabian should he attempt to leave us. 

Their willingness to lay hands on him was not to be 
tested, for he led us, by paths known only to him, he 
said, straight to the mountain where our quarry lay, 
and into the dark forest that covered its sides. The 
road through the woods was a mere trail, so narrow 
that we were forced to advance along it in single file. 
But Baraja swore that there was no other, and that if 
we would succeed we must follow his guidance im- 
plicitly. So for what seemed hours we rode along in 
the darkness, keeping at a smart pace. At last the 
guide made Cardenas halt his horse, and as I, next 
in the rear, rode abreast of them to ask the reason, 
he said: 

“ The horses must be left here, senor. The band 
is but a mile from this place, and the rest of the dis- 
tance you must go on foot.” 

We had entered a little glade on the side of the 
mountain. Ordering the men to dismount and picket 
the horses, I told off a guard for them, placing Lieu- 
tenant Carrasco in command. He was to remain in 
that place until seven o’clock the next morning. If by 
that time no word had come to him from me he was to 
make the best of his way back to Queretaro. 

I ordered the men that were to follow me to the 
guerrilla encampment to leave their sabers behind, tied 
to their saddles, as the clank of the scabbards might 
betray our presence to the foe. Their spurs were also 
unbuckled and left behind. When all was ready I 
seized Baraja by the arm and motioned him to pro- 
ceed. Side by side we entered another path that led 
deeper into the forest, and behind us came sixty of my 
troopers, armed with their carbines and revolvers, and 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


^31 

the long knife that nearly every man carried in his 
boot, ranchero fashion. 

Baraja walked rapidly for some distance, and I was 
beginning to think that his *‘mile” must be like the 
‘^rnile” that the American farmer uses when giving 
information to inquiring travelers. At length he said 
in a low voice that we must now begin to use great 
precaution, and, passing the word back along the line, 
we stole quietly forward, “feeling” every step and 
taking care to avoid treading on loose rocks or branches. 
The path narrowed and led between two masses of 
rocks, and as he entered this passage Baraja put his 
mouth to my ear and whispered: 

“When we reach the other side of the rocks, Sefior 
Capitan^ we must crawl.” 

I had explained a code of signals that I in- 
tended to use that night, to the men before we started. 
So when we reached the end of the passage I tapped 
the man behind me on top of the head. He fol- 
lowed my action by signaling the soldier in his rear 
in the same way, and so my order was communicated 
to all. Together with Baraja I moved slowly along on 
my hands and knees for awhile, and then the guide 
whispered : 

“ To the right. ” 

A touch on the right shoulder of my rear rank file 
gave the command for a change of direction, and on 
we crawled. We made our way without much noise, 
too, for the men were used to stalking game, and I 
had the personal care of Baraja to guide my progress. 
We must have gone over a hundred yards before he 
ordered: 

“To the left. ” 

And the touch on the men’s left shoulders turned 
our flank into our front. We were now advancing 
slowly in line, and I felt that our destination was near 
at hand. I was right, for Baraja, giving the signal to 
halt, said in a voice so faint that I had to strain my 
hearing powers to catch his words: 

“We are now about fifty yards in rear of the camp, 
Seiior Capitan, and we must wait for daybreak. With 
the light they will be off their guard, and as there are 
no sentinels on this side we can take them unawares.” 


132 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Have they sentinels out below, then? ” I whispered 
back. 

As in answer to my question the long, melancholy 
call of the bird known most familiarly as “the bell- 
ringer” came from the trees before us to the right. 
A moment after the same notes sounded in the dark- 
ness in our front, and were taken up again further off 
to the left. 

“You hear them,” Baraja muttered. “ It’s just as 
if they were calling centinda alerte^' and you can be 
sure they’re wide awake. Caramba ! If they knew 
we had got in their rear! ’’ 

“But they don’t,” I replied, and I settled myself to 
wait for the day. 

Slowly the minutes dragged, but they grew into 
hours, nevertheless, and at last our monotonous task 
of lying in wait was ended, as the tree-tops became 
distinct in the gray glimmer of the morning. 

Baraja placed his hand on my shoulder and whis- 
pered: “Now is our time. I’ll be true to my word 
and earn the fifty pesos. But, Senor Capitan^ my work 
is done when we’re in sight of the camp, I’m not 
expected to stand fire, am I?” 

I shook my head and rose from the ground. As I 
did so, to my left the long line of my troopers reared 
itself also. With an expressive gesture to Cardenas in 
Baraja’s direction, as a caution that the guide was still 
to be watched, I gave the signal to advance. We 
moved slowly forward through the trees in the dawn 
of the morning, and came to the edge of a glade 
similar to the one where we had left our horses. A 
small mountain rill ran across the open space and bab- 
bled away into the forest. Near it, in the center of 
the glade, a single tent, formed iromserapes and mangas^ 
had been pitched. This “ tepee,” for it was nothing 
better, held the prisoners, as Baraja’s whisper in- 
formed me. All about the clearing lay the slumber- 
ing forms of the guerilleros^ wrapped in scrapes^ 
their heads resting on their saddles for pillows, and 
the sombreros pulled down over their faces. 

“ Where are their horses? ” I whispered. 

“ In a place farther down the mountain where there 
is good grass, Senor CapitanP' Baraja answered. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


133 


I gave one more glance at the scene before me, an- 
other along the line of expectant troopers. Then I 
waved my revolver about my head as a sign to advance, 
and sprang into the glade, rushing swiftly toward the 
tent. My fellows followed me in silence. I was half 
way across the open space before we were discovered. 
Then one of the sleepers leaped to his feet, with 
a yell of astonishment that almost blended with the 
scream of agony he gave as my revolver barked and 
he sunk in a huddled mass to the earth again, shot 
through the forehead. With this, followed a wild chorus 
of cries and shots and' the hearty cheer of my gallant 
cavalrymen, and almost before the smoke from our 
pistols had faded into the atmosphere, the camp was 
ours, and no enemy was left to dispute our right 
to it. 

Seven guerilleros lay dead on the ground, shot down 
in the act of rising. Eighteen more were captive, and 
among them the chief. That gentleman had shown 
that he had some pretense to his rank. He alone, of 
all the band, had made an effective attempt at resist- 
ance. Scarce had he been able to fire two shots when 
a blow from the butt of a carbine stretched him sense- 
less on the sward. But each one of his bullets had 
gone home, and two of my men lay dead in their 
tracks as a consequence. The remainder of the shots 
fired by the guerilleros were wildly aimed and did no 
harm. About half the band had managed to get 
away, and we could hear them in their flight as they 
went crashing down the mountain, heading in the 
direction of the place where they had corralled their 
horses. 

With a jubilant face I turned to the expectant 
Fabian Baraja, whom Cardenas now led up to me, 
still watching him like a hawk. 

“Well, Senor, are you satisfied that I have earned 
my money?” the rascal grinned. 

“You have, provided the prisoners are safe. In a 
moment I will see them, and then I can — why, what 
the devil!” I said the last four* words in plain, un- 
varnished English, dropping the Spanish tongue I was 
using to Baraja, and stared in astonishment toward the 
tent behind him. 


134 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


The American gentleman and his ‘‘ family ” had just 
emerged from its cover. They were evidently un- 
hurt, and seemed very glad to find themselves sur- 
rounded by the rescuing Imperial soldiers. 

But the ‘‘American gentleman ” was no other than 
my old acquaintance, “Lucky Vernon.” And his 
family comprised two females, in the persons of his 
daughter. Miss Evelyn Vernon, and his neice, Miss 
Alys Rowell ! ” 


CHAPTER XV. 

EL COJO. 

To say that I was astonished to find that the persons 
we had rescued were my former fiancee^ her father and 
her cousin, would be to use a mild term. I was thun- 
der-struck. My face must have shown as much, for 
Fabian Baraja exclaimed hurriedly : 

‘ ‘ Nombre de Dios ! Sefior Capitan ! Have you seen a 
ghost ?” 

The remembrance of the vaunted self-control that 
the Hon. John, my father, had so often labored to im- 
press upon me should distinguish a Bellhurst, flashed 
across my brain, and I pulled myself together. 

“Ghost? Nonsense !” I said. But I turned in a 
would-be careless manner, so as to have my back to- 
ward old Vernon and the ladies. . Then I continued, 
taking out my watch: “You have earned your money, 
Baraja, for it still lacks twenty minutes to six o’clock. 
You shall have the gold directly. I drew from my 
breast a small bag wherein I had taken the precaution 
on the previous afternoon to place the price of Bara- 
ja’s services.” 

“Here are your fifty pesos. But you must still be 
our guide until Queretaro is in sight. Then you may 
go where you will, or if you will come with us into the 
town your knowledge of the country may make it 
easy for you to gain a position with our forces as a 
scout,” I said, as I handed him the bag. 

“Not such a fool, Sefior Capitan ! ” the fellow an- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


135 


swered promptly. “There are too many Chinacos 
with Escobedo for me to take service with el Efiiper- 
ador. Take my word for it, when he comes down on 
the town Maximiliano and his army will make but a 
few bites for him. ” Baraja stopped and looked at me 
for a couple of minutes in a way that I didn’t under- 
stand, and then resumed : “ Listen to me, Seiior Cap- 
itan. Though you may not know it, you did a great 
thing for me not twenty minutes ago. Hearken to 
what I counsel. I can see that your men are fond of 
you, and knowing Mexican troops as I do, I have no 
doubt that they will follow you wherever you have a 
mind to take them. They make a fine troop of horse, 
and any general in Mexico would gladly see them part 
of his army. Lose no time, then, but make for San 
Jacinto, and offer your services to General Escobedo. 
But if you love your life, or think to gain fortune in 
Mexico, beware of going back to Queretaro. The 
army within its walls will never leave it, save as 
prisoners.” 

“You speak confidently,” I said slowly. 

“ I speak what I know. Maximiliano is in a trap. 
And some of those whom he most confides in are no 
strangers to the fact either.” 

“You may stop, Barajo,” interrupted I. “You 
speak as you are accustomed to think. Your advice 
is according to your own nature. You do not com- 
prehend that you insult me by suggesting the course 
you would have me follow. I pardon you and we will 
say no more about it. But I am curious to know what 
I have done for you, that you should take such inter- 
est for my future welfare.” 

Fabian Baraja grinned with evil satisfaction as he led 
me nearer to the little stream that crossed the clearing. 
When we had almost reached it he stopped. He pointed 
to the ground and said : 

‘ ‘ Behold ! Seiior Capitan. ” 

At our feet the body of a dead guerillero lay upon its 
back, the arms thrown out and the sightless eyes star- 
ing up at the sky. He had fallen so near to the brook 
that one of his spurred feet lay in the water. The other 
leg was drawn up by his last agony. From the purple, 
gayly embroidered manga that he wore, the silver but- 


136 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


tons and heavy braiding of his trousers, and the costly 
sombrero that lay near him, I judged that he had been 
no ordinary member of the band. A thin red stream 
of blood still trickled across his colorless face, and a 
sharply defined bullet hole right in the center of his 
forehead told how he had met his deach. 

“ This was Manuel Areizaga,” Baraja said as I looked 
to him for explanation. “ He was a lieutenant of the 
band, and a prime favorite with the chief. There was 
a girl in San Luis Potosi that thought me the finest 
man in Mexico until she set eyes on Manuel Areiz- 
aga! ” Then the wretch sneered: “ The girl at San 
Luis Potosi will wait in vain for you, dear Manuel, but 
Fabian Baraja, his pocket lined with pesos, will come 
in your stead. And while he consoles her for your 
absence, Manuel, the last of your bones will be picked 
hy t\\t zopilote ! Carajo and he dealt the corpse a 
heavy kick. 

“Hold, Baraja!” I said, as he seemed inclined to 
follow up his amusement. “You dared not face him 
living, by your own account, and por Dios I you shall 
not maltreat him dead. Be off, and await me near the 
tent. Go, I say, or I will show you that I command 
here.” 

I left the body of the guerillero lieutenant spread 
upon the grass in its picturesque attire to whatever 
fate the birds and beasts of the forest had in store for 
it, and walked composedly toward the tent. 

“Here is the Lieutenant Yanez said, as I 

came up to the group before it. He stepped back ; I 
was face to face with old man Vernon. 

“I must continue to you the thanks that I was ex- 
pressing to your lieutenant, SenorP'Wi^ old fellow said, 
grasping my hand. “ Believe me, I am most grateful 
for the timely rescue you brought, and in the future 
I hope to* show you that I never forget a friend. Your 
brave men shall find that substantial tokens of my 
appreciation of their conduct shall not be wanting 
as soon as we get to Queretaro, and as for you and 
your officers I have some influence at headquarters, 
^ud ” — the old fellow had been shaking my hand 
with vigor all the time, but suddenly he stopped, let 
go of me as if a viper had bitten him, jumped a step 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


137 


back, and shouted, “ Damnation! Young Bellhurst!” 

“ Very much at your service, Mr. Vernon,” I said in 
cool tones, raising my sombrero and glancing past him 
at the girls, who, I saw, had that moment also recog- 
nized me. 

Evelyn seemed about to speak, and then bit her lip, 
drawing herself up haughtily. From her my gaze 
went to Alys Rowell. The little beauty’s face had 
flamed scarlet, and her blue eyes met mine with a flash 
that made my heart stand still and a strange, choking 
feeling come into my throat. Then without hesitating 
she came quickly up to me and put out her hand, saying : 
“ I am glad to see you, Mr. Bellhurst. We have been 
in great trouble, and we are happy indeed to be out of 
the power of those terrible men. For the aid you gave 
us you shall always have my prayers And I will be 
honest and say that though I don’t know how it hap- 
pens that you are here, I am rejoiced more than I can 
tell you that I owe my liberty to ” 

“Alys, be quiet and go back to your cousin,” Mr. 
Vernon commanded. 

But she replied defiantly: “I won't be quiet, uncle, 
and I will say what I feel. I don’t care if you don’t 
like him, / do, and I’m not ashamed of it. I think 
that after what he’s done for us the way you and 
Evelyn are acting is perfect'y hateful. I want you to 
know, Mr. Bellhurst, that / am your friend, and I don’t 
believe you ever did anything to justify the way they 
treated you. ” 

“Thank you. Miss Rowell,” I returned gratefully. 
“You’ll find I’m always your friend, too, whatever may 
happen. Mr. Vernon,” I continued, addressing that 
grimly hostile but silent gentleman, “there need be 
no words about what has happened. If you will 
follow Lieutenant Yanez he will escort you and the 
ladies to the spot where he left our horses. During 
the ride to Queretaro I will not bother you with my 
conversation, I assure you.” 

“ I don’t want to go with Lieutenant Yanez,” Miss 
Rowell declared. “I want to talk to you, Mr. Bell- 
hurst, and I feel a good deal safer with you. Ugh! 
you don’t know how horrible it was to feel that those 
nasty, dirty Mexicans had one at their mercy. I shall 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


138 

Stay here with you until you are ready to go, and I 
won’t leave a minute sooner.” 

Truly Miss Alys Rowell was showing herself in a 
light that was new to me. I had no idea that this 
pretty little blonde was so self-willed. I would have 
been delighted to be able to talk with her, too, but it 
was out of the question for her to remain in the glade, 
and I knew it. 

“You must go with your uncle and cousin. Miss 
Rowell,” I said. “Some things are going to take 
place here that I would not have you see. So for the 
present, adios. Take ten men, Yanez, and guard the 
Senor Vernomand the senoritas down the mountain to 
Carrasco’s party. I will join you very soon.” 

Miss Rowell’s eyes looked her reproach, but she 
said nothing more, and then, the lieutenant showing 
the way, my American friends were soon beyond my 
vision. 

As soon as they were gone I called for my first- 
sergeant, Minoz. He was a hard-featured, grizzled 
trooper, and had been trained, I knew, in the school 
of General Marquez. 

“How many prisoners did we take, sergeant?” I 
asked as he stood before me. 

“Eighteen, capitan." 

“ Any officers among them? ” 

“ Only one, senor ^ but thre rest of the captives claim 
that he was their chief.” 

“Aha! the chief, eh? That makes a little delay 
necessary, for I would like to question him. Bring 
the chief to the tent here, sergeant. ” 

I walked into the “tepee,” as I had mentally termed 
it. There were a number of serapes lying on the ground 
within, and evidently some rude attempts at comfort 
had been shown the prisoners. As there were no 
chairs I remained standing, rolling and lighting a 
cigarette as I waited. Presently the forms of two men 
darkened the door and Sergeant Minoz entered, a hat- 
less Mexican, with his wrists tightly bound, at his side. 

“So this is the fellow, is it? ” I said, as they halted 
before me. “You were in command of the gang I 
dispersed this morning, I understand,” addressing the 
captive. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


139 


“I had that honor, Senor Capitan^'^ replied a voice 
that was familiar to me. 

“Very well. You may return to the men, sergeant, 
and see that they load their carbines. You under- 
stand! My instructions from headquarters are im- 
perative on the point.” And I gave him some grim 
directions. 

Sergeant Minoz saluted and left the tent, with a 
dark smile upon his grim countenance. 

The bandit chief and I were alone. 

^^Carajol' my companion said. “These cursed 
cords are biting my wrists to the bone. If you’ll be 
pleased to loosen them, Senor Bellhurst, you’ll do me 
a great favor.” 

“I was about to take them off you,” I answered, 
drawing a knife from my pocket. “ But mind, no 
tricks, Morales. You’ll not repent it.” 

“On my honor,” tht guerillero chieftan responded. 

I cut the cords, and El Cojo stood before me, 
free. 

“I’ve only a few moments to spare you, ” I said 
rapidly. “Of course, you know that what has happened 
is the fortune of war. I had no idea you were head 
of the band I was commissioned to destroy, though, 
frankly, if I had known it. I’d have carried out my 
orders all the same. Now, about yourself. You 
can guess what will happen to your men out there 
presently. But as for you, if I take you to Queretoro, 
do you think you will be able to get away on the road? ” 

“ Give me half a chance and I’ll escape from the 
dungeons of San Juan d’Ulloa,” El Cojo asserted in 
confident tones. “Tell me one thing, though: How 
did you manage to surprise us so completely? My 
sentries never gave a word of alarm, and the first 
thing I knew of your coming I learned from the shots 
of your men as you seized our camp.” 

“ Your man Baraja brought us on you,” I told him. 
“ He led us by a road that he said was known to none 
but him.” 

“Curse him! the treacherous hound!” El Cojo 
hissed out. “Why, the cur chose the spot for our 
hiding-place, and swore to me that there was no other 
path than the one I had guarded.” 


140 A PASSING EMPEROR. 

“ He left a line out for his own private convenience, 
I suppose,” I answered, laughing. “You mustn’t 
blame him too much, for what he did was under threats 
of torture. And, besides, I have an idea that he can 
aid in your escape. I’ll speak to him, and if money 
can buy his services you shall have them.” 

“You need not offer him gold,’ Morales replied 
quickly. “Simply tell him that I’m to live for awhile 
yet, and Baraja will do all in his power. For por Dios 
he dare not refuse his assistance. When will my chance 
for freedom be given me?” 

“On our way down to where I have left my horses 
will be your best opportunity. Hold out your hands.” 

As the bandit extended !iis arms I wrapped the cord 
I had cut about his wrists so skillfully that to all ap- 
pearance he was securely bound as before, though a 
jerk of the arms would free him. 

“Now, then,” I said, “as we go down the moun- 
tain Baraja shall follow directly in your rear. At any 
point you please you can dive into the forest, and he, 
being between you and the soldier nearest you, will 
prevent the man from stopping you. You will have to 
run your chance of random bullets.” 

‘ ‘ Plain as day, ” El Cojo remarked. ‘ ‘ I will not give 
you my thanks. Perhaps some day my turn will come. ” 

“Give my respectful greeting to the Senora Inez 
and the little one,” were my last words to him. 

Suddenly the rattle of carbine platoon-firing sounded 
sharply outside. 

'‘'‘Diablo !" muttered the bandit. 

“ God rest their souls,” whispered I. 

We both knew it meant that the prioners of his band 
had been executed 

Then I led him without the tent, and placed him in 
care of two of my men. 

A few minutes after, the sergeant, coming from a 
little glen with his firing party, mustered the men for 
our march down the mountain. As he did so I took 
occasion to call Fabian Baraja to me. In a few words 
I explained to him that I wished El Cojo to escape 
and the part he was to play in the flight. The astute 
villain was quick to understand, and assured me that he 
was eager to aid in the release of his chieftain. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


41 


Saying that I would leave all to him, then, I placed 
myself at the head of my troop and started on the 
return march to join Carrasco. We soon reached the 
path where our progress was necessarily in single file, 
and I had not gone more than a hundred steps 
along it when loud shouts and the reports of firearms 
from the rear told me that El Cojo had put our pro- 
ject into execution. 

A breathless trooper presently forced his way to me, 
exclaiming that the captive was gone. He had made 
a sudden dash from the path, and so rapid had been 
his movements, that before a weapon could be aimed 
at him his form had been hidden by the brushwood. 
The soldier stated that Fabian Baraja had been first 
to recover from the surprise common to all at the 
bandit’s flight, and, snatching a revolver from the belt 
of the soldier behind him, had opened fire upon his 
late chieftain. The robber was gone, but he could 
not be far off, .and Sergeant Minoz had sent for per- 
mission to start in pursuit, sure that with the knowl- 
edge Baraja had of the woods El Cojo would soon be 
recaptured. 

I sent the man back to the sergeant at once, posi- 
tively forbidding any chase after the guerrilla. Our 
time was limited; we must start as soon as possible in 
order to reach Queretaro by night-fall, as the pres- 
ence of the ladies would make our return much slower 
than our headlong coming. The road was unfamiliar to 
us, and Baraja alone could guide us. The men who 
had escaped from the brigand’s camp, too, must have 
rallied by this time, and El Cojo’s pursuers would run 
the risk of falling into an ambush. The sergeant, in- 
stead of wasting thought on the fugitive, was to use 
every endeavor to hasten the march until we reached 
the horses. 

Whatever Minoz may have thought about the case, 
he was a thorough soldier, and did all in his power to 
carry out my orders and facilitate our progress down 
the mountain. 

Carrasco had everything in readiness for departure 
by the time we reached him, and I gave the word to 
start on our homeward road at once. Three of the 
troopers were mounted behind their comrades, and tq 


142 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


old Vernon and Evelyn two of their horses were as- 
signed. I myself mounted the third, giving my own 
horse, the sorrel sent me by the Senora Inez, to Miss 
Rowell, as I knew his easy pace would be sure to spare 
that loyal little lady some fatigue. On the way I kept 
at the head of the column with Baraja, and when we 
halted at noonday I made no effort to converse with 
any one of my three compatriots. 

We came in sight of Queretaro at about four o’clock 
in the afternoon, and, our guide’s task being accom- 
plished, I told him that he was free. 

“You are a man of your word, Senor Capitan^” he 
said in parting. “ May you have no cause to regret 
that you would not follow my advice and join Esco- 
bedo ! Remember that I am still in your debt for 
Manuel, though, and if you ever need my services — 
bend down that I may whisper in your ear — old Pe- 
dillo, the lemonade-seller of the Alameda there in 
Queretaro will send me any message you may wish 
to reach me. Adios.” 

The bandit waved his hand and struck off across the 
country, while I, putting my horse to the gallop, 
quickened the progress of my troop, and in a short 
time the column passed through the gate of Pueblito, 
and we were safe returned to Queretaro. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

AT THE THEATER ITURBIDE. 

As I had orders to report the success or failure of 
my expedition to General Marquez immediately upon 
my return, I rode at once to headquarters. There, 
after turning over the troop to Lieutenant Yanez, I 
requested Mr. Vernon and the ladies to follow me into 
the Casino. 

It happened that the banker, Portales, was in the 
general’s ante-chamber, having come for news of 
his captive correspondent, and he at once, Mexican 
fashion, hastened to introduce himself and place all he 
possessed at old Vernon’s disposal. As Senor Portales 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


averred that there was no need for Mr. Vernon and 
the senoritas to remain at headquarters, and urged 
them to lose no time in testing the hospitality of his 
home, they were quick to avail themselves of his kind- 
ness. 

As they were leaving the room Miss Rowell ran over 
to where I stood, and, pressing my hand warmly, said 
in a low voice: “This is only au revoir, Mr. Bellhurst. 

I don’t know whether you’ll be allowed to come and 
call on me or not, and I suppose it wouldn’t be very 
pleasant to come if you were permitted. But I must 
have a chat with you, and if you are willing to 
leave it to me I’ll find a way of doing so. Or, per- 
haps — ” she hesitated and her voice shook a little — 
“ perhaps now that your duty is finished and you’ve 
rescued us you don’t wan’t any.more to do with any of 
us.” 

“You know that isn’t so. Miss Rowell,” I said 
quickly. “You may be sure that I am anxious for a 
chance to talk with you.” 

“ Then why did you keep away from us, all the way 
back to the town? ” 

“ I couldn’t very well talk to you without approach- 
ing your cousin and your uncle,” I answered. “I 
told Mr. Vernon that I’d leave him alone and not bother 
him. But they are getting impatient for you to join 
them. When and where shall I see you? ” 

“ Will you promise to meet me in whatever way 1 
may direct you? ” she said hurriedly. 

“ On my word ! ” 

“Then I’ll hunt for an opportunity and send you a 
note to tell you of it. Mind you, keep your promise. 
Good-by.” Smiling back at me over her shoulder, 
she joined the others at the door, seemingly unmindful 
of the sharp reproaches old Vernon at once began. 

Closeted with General Marquez, I gave him a clear 
and concise account of my breaking up the guerrilla 
band. 

As I told him of our attack at daylight, he inter- 
rupted: “ How many did you say you captured, capi- 
tan? ” 

“ Eighteen, your Excellency.” 

“ And where are they now? Below in the street? ” 


144 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


No, your Excellency. You remember your instruc- 
tions. Seventeen of them are meat for the zopilotes 
(Mexican vultures) by this time.” 

“ Good. A file of troops and a fusilade, eh? ” his 
black eyes sparkling with savage satisfaction as I 
bowed assent. “But the eighteenth? Where is he? ” 

“ He was the chief, your Excellency. I thought to 
bring him and place him at your disposal. But the 
rascal managed to escape on the way down the moun- 
tain.” 

'‘'‘Diablo! Why didn’t you shoot him with the rest? 
What do you suppose I would want with a cursed 
rillero ? ” The general’s face grew dark. 

“ He was no common man, your Excellency,” I an- 
swered coolly. “ He should have shared the fate of 
the rest, but I learned that he was no other than El 
Cojo. El Cojo has been in the business for some 
years, your Excellency, ” I continued in a meaning tone, 
“and during that time he must have had chance to get 
quite a fair sized amount of wealth together. I had no 
doubt that once in your Excellency’s hands you might 
persuade him to devote some of it to the cause of the 
Emperor. For that reason he was not executed with 
his men.’" 

“ Chinga! Not such a bad thought after all, Senor 
Bellhurst. Come, your intentions were good, though 
they didn’t materialize. Few officers so young in 
war as you are would have looked so far ahead. We’ll 
say no more about El Cojo’s getting away. You have 
acted as I would have done myself, and I see that you 
will do me credit in the future. You may go now, and 
be sure that you will not be forgotten. But I’ll not bring 
your name to the Emperor’s notice over this affair; 
he doesn’t love these little shooting-parties as you and 
I do.” 

“ As you and I do ! ” 

The words stuck in my brain, and I found myself 
repeating them as I mounted my horse to ride to my 
quarters. Evidently, Marquez imagined that I cared 
no more for human life than he did. 

The shooting of the miserable jarochos was justifi- 
able ; they merited a fate far worse than the one they 
got at my command. But when it comes to prisoners 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


145 


of war, he’ll find that my ways won’t run in harness 
with his, by a great deal. 

Teddy Callahan was waiting for me at my rooms. 
After we had eaten a hearty supper, pipes were lighted, 
and between whiffs I gave him a recital of my adven- 
tures. 

As I told how we stole up the mountain and seized 
the camp, Teddy’s eyes sparkled, but when I came to 
the disposal of the prisoners he straightened up in his 
chair. 

“Jack!” he said in tones of mingled wonder and 
rage. “Jack! is it the truth ye’re tellin’ me, or is it 
that I don’t understand? Ye don’t mean to say that 
ye stood those seventeen helpless divils up and shot 
them in cold blood ? ” 

“That’s exactly what was done, my dear fellow,” I 
calmly said. 

“Well, may I be damned if I iver thought that of 
ye. Jack! What’s got into ye to act so? A thorough 
soldier should be merciful as well as brave! And 
here ye go and send seventeen men out of the world 
in a few minutes, with scarce time to say a prayer, and 
think no more of it than I do of knockin’ the ashes 
out of this old briar of mine.” 

“That’s not the way I look at this case, old man,” 
I replied, as Teddy shook some tobacco into his hand 
and proceeded to fill the pipe he had just emptied, 
thrusting the weed into the bowl with angry pokes of 
his forefinger. “These villains were worse than 
snakes, and if you’d seen them you’d have had no more 
scruples about shooting them than I had. Besides, I 
had my orders from General Marquez.” 

“Divil a doubt of that!” was Teddy’s comment. 
“The murderin’ villain! He’s worse than any gueri- 
llero himseU\ Don’t you be takin’ too close pattern 
after General Marquez. It’s a mean divil that he is, 
and for my own part I don’t believe him any too de- 
voted to the Emperor.” 

Teddy showed great interest when he learned who 
the rescued Americans were. 

“The saints be good to me!” he growled as I told 
of my meeting with old Vernon. “ If I’d been in your 
place, Jack, it’s the black old scoundrel I’d have had 


146 A PASSING EMPEROR. 

out in front of a squad. Yes, and I’d have made him 
dig his own grave first.” 

“Come, who’s getting barbarous now?” I laughed. 
“You’re worse than I am, Teddy. What! shoot a 
white-headed old man before the very eyes of his niece 
and daughter? Even Marquez wouldn’t do that, I’m 
sure. ” 

“I’ll bet /le's done worse, and thought nothing of 
it,” Callahan rejoined. “But ye know I was only 
sayin’ what I’d fee/ like doin’ to the murderin’ rascal 
Vernon. Go on. Jack, tell me the rest. Did Miss 
Evelyn give ye a gracious welcome, and is it made up 
again?” 

I told him all that had happened, even confiding to 
him that Miss Rowell had something to say to me and 
was to send me a note. 

“Humph! In that case I suppose I’m to keep me 
hands off the old man?” 

On the next day, February the twenty-second, the 
troops of General Mendez arrived at Queretaro, hav- 
ing marched from Michuacan. I had heard much of 
this officer, whom all reports called a most able parti- 
san leader, brave as a lion, and fairly worshiped by 
the men who served under him. It is true that to all 
this was joined a reputation for cruelty second only to 
that of Marquez. General Mendez brought with him 
the First, Second, Third, and Fourth battalions of the 
line, the Fourth and Fifth regiments of cavalry, one field 
battery and one mountain battery. Their total number 
was about four thousand. 

On the afternoon of the same day the Emperor re- 
viewed the troops of Miramon and Castillo, and 
the column Marquez had led from Mexico. This force 
included the battalion of the Cazadores del Emperador, 
the battalion of Tiradores, the Fifth and Seventh bat- 
talions of the line, the gendarmes, the regiment of the 
Empress, the Eighth Cavalry, two field batteries, and 
one mountain battery — over five thousand soldiers. 
The army of the Emperor Maximilian concentrated at 
Queretaro, therefore, numbered nine thousand men, 
and had thirty-nine pieces of artillery. 

On the afternoon of February the twenty-fifth, 
as I dismounted before my quarters on my return, 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


147 


a slender, lively looking young Mexican woman, who 
seemed to have been on the watch for me, came up to 
me and held out a note. As the bearer waited, ap- 
parently expecting an answer, I tore the envelope open 
at once, and read the following: 

“Can you be in the promenade of the Theater Iturbide at 
half-past eight this evening? If you will be there I will man- 
age that we have our talk. A. R.” 

Say to the senorita that I will come,” I whispered 
dropping a peso into the messenger’s ready hand. A 
quick smile of intelligence, as she made her parting 
courtesy, was all the answer I received, and in a few 
moments she was out of sight. 

Accordingly, I set off in search of Teddy Callahan, 
and bade him be ready to accompany me to the theater 
that evening. 

‘‘ But why do ye want that I should go along?” the 
Irishman objected. ‘ ‘ It’s not me that the lady wants to 
see, sure it*s yourself, and ‘ two is company,’ ye know.” 

“ You’ve got to go up and talk to Miss Vernon and 
the old man, if they’re there, do you see?” I ex- 
plained. “They’ve got no quarrel with you, and I’ll 
bet that if you get half a chance you can keep ’em so in- 
terested in learning how we come to be in the Emperor’s 
army that they’ll forget all about Miss Rowell. You 
ought to be able to keep them busy for an hour at the 
least.” 

“Oh, that’s the game, is it?” Teddy rejoined. 
“Well, I’m your man, and if my tongue can hold old 
man Vernon quiet, ye can be sure that ye can have 
your chat without fear of interruption.” 

At fifteen minutes after eight, then. Captains Calla- 
han and Bellhurst, brave in all the glitter of the full- 
dress uniform of the staff, entered the Theater Itur- 
bide in the Calle Miraflores. The house was crowded 
with officers, many of them having ladies of the city 
under their escort. 

An indifferent company of actors was presenting a 
Spanish comedy to the audience, but a great part of 
the latter seemed to prefer the pleasure of walking 
about in the lobby and the wide galleries provided for 
promenaders, to listening to the play. 


148 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


In one of the boxes were Evelyn Vernon and Alys 
Rowell, together with three Mexican ladies whom I 
supposed were the wife and daughters of the Senor 
Portales. That gentleman was not there, but at the 
back of the box I recognized the white hair and beard 
of Lucky Vernon. The Senora Portales seemed to 
know many of the officers present, and there was a 
constant stream of them entering and leaving her box 

“Go up there at once,” 1 said, giving Teddy a push 
forward. “Shake how-d’ye-do with the girls and 
then corner the old man. I’ll trust Miss Rowell to 
understand that I’m here.” 

Teddy obeyed like a good fellow, and as soon as I 
saw him grasping old Vernon warmly by the hand I 
walked out into the gallery and began slowly saunter- 
ing backward and forward. There were plenty of 
other promenaders, and many a demure glance did I 
get from the lovely eyes of the fair Mexicanas as they 
passed on the arms of their attendant cavaliers. 

I had been in the gallery for perhaps five minutes 
when my eyes fell on the approaching figure of Alys 
Rowell. She looked very well that night, gowned in 
a dress of a somewhat daring shade of red, with 
sprays of leaves on the shoulders, and her white neck 
and shoulders and golden hair formed a marked con- 
trast to the darker beauty of the Mexican ladies about 
her. She was not alone, but leaned on the arm of a 
fiercely-moustached “greaser” — as I mentally called 
him — who wore the red, black-braided hussar jacket 
of the regiment of the Empress. 

As I came up I was greeted with a prettily feigned 
s are of astonishment. 

“Why, Mr. Bellhurst! ” the little beauty said as 
she put out her hand, “Who would have thought of 
seeing you here ! It’s quite an unexpected pleasure. 
Let me make you acquainted with Lieutenant Moret, 
Mr. Bellhurst is the gentleman. Lieutenant,” she 
added in French, “to whom my relatives and myself 
owe our rescue from those terrible robbers.” 

The officer grinned amicably as he bowed, and said 
something about having already heard of the Capitan 
Bellhurst, but Miss Rowell cut him short by saying 
with an engaging smile: “ You will not think me rude. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


149 


Lieutenant, if I ask you to await me here and hold 
my bouquet while I converse for a few moments with 
my countryman. I will not try your patience for 
long.” 

The subaltern bowed again, with a very good 
grace, and Miss Rowell taking my arm we moved on 
to the farther end of the gallery. There were few 
promenaders, a little nook in an angle of the wall 
made us practically alone. I leaned upon the balus- 
trade, and the lovely Alys opened fire upon me at 
once. ' 

“ Now you must begin immediately, Mr. Bellhurst, 
for we mustn’t lose a moment of our time. Tell me 
all about yourself since I last saw you. How is it that 
I find you, whom I left in the cadet gray, wearing the 
uniform of an Imperialist ? You see I’ve been in 
Mexico long enough to know that there are two 
different parties here.” 

“ I haven’t very much to tell you,” said I. “ You 
may have heard that Callahan and I had to leave 
the Point. There was fighting to be had in Mexico 
for the asking, so we came. My cousin, a French 
officer, decided me for Maximilian. That’s why you 
find me in his army.” 

“Oh, you must have more to tell than that wee 
story,” Alys Rowell declared. “Go on at once, and 
satisfy my curiosity.” 

To please her I gave a rapid account of what had 
befallen Teddy and myself since leaving the United 
States, ending with the surprise I had felt at finding 
her in the hands of El Cojo. 

“ How on earth did you come to be in Mexico, any- 
way? ” I queried, as a wind up to my story. “ What 
could have possessed your uncle to bring you here at 
such a time?” 

“ Uncle came to Mexico on business. As he always 
takes Evelyn and me with him, now, w'herever he goes, 
we came, too. ” She looked at me sadly for a few seconds 
and then said: “Mr. Bellhurst, I’m going to come 
straight to the point. Why was it that Uncle made 
us leave West Point so suddenly, and why was every- 
thing between Evelyn and you broken off? ” 

“ Don’t you think that rather a singular question to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


150 

ask me, Miss Rowell? Surely, Miss Vernon must 
have told you all about it,” I replied. 

“But she didn’t She came into my room late that 
last night we were at West Point, and told me that we 
were to leave early next morning. I asked ^hdit you 
would say to that, and she said that you were a wicked 
villain, that she was mistaken in you, that you had 
deceived her, and she never wanted me to speak of 
you again. When I tried to find out the reason, she 
wouldn’t tell me, and I have never been able to dis- 
cover since. Why was it?” 

“On my word of honor as a gentleman, I don't 
know." 

“You don’t know?” she repeated, with wondering 
eyes. 

“ No more than you do. When I said good-night to 
Miss Vernon, everything was satisfactory. Next morn- 
ing I got a note, saying that she wished never to set 
eyes on me again. That’s all.” 

“ I believe you,” Alys said, after a pause. “Your 
eyes are true, if ever man’s were. There must be 
some mistake in all this. For uncle hates you — oh, 
how he hates you! I couldn’t begin to tell you how 
savage he gets when your name is mentioned ! ” 

“I can imagine,” I said smiling. “ But go on and 
teU me what you did after leaving the Point.” 

“ We returned to New York, and uncle stayed there 
while Evelyn and I went on to Saratoga We spent 
most of the winter and spring in New York, too, and 
had quite a gay time. But all through the winter uncle 
wasn’t a bit like himself. I don’t know just what was 
the matter, but I found out that in one way or another 
he had a good many business reverses. I could tell 
when something had gone wrong, for at such times he’d 
shut himself up alone and nobody dared disturb him. 
But one night last March he had a terrible time of it, 
raving and carrying on so that I overheard something 
of what he said to himself. From what I could 
understand he was cursing you and your father, Mr. 
Bellhurst, as the cause of his misfortunes. Do you 
know anything of them? ” she added suddenly. 

For in spite of myself a smile had flickered around 
my lips for a second. The Hon. John Bellhurst had 


A PASSING EMPEROR. I51 

evidently carried out his intention of making things 
unpleasant for Mr. Lucky Vernon. 

‘‘ 1 had left the United States at the time you speak 
of, remember,” was my answer. 

“Well, anyway, he seemed to lay the blame on both 
of you. Soon after that he began to talk of Mexico, 
and I think he got some contracts for military supplies 
for the Emperor’s army.' Then someone who had 
mines here in this country made his acquaintance. 
The outcome of it is that since June we have been 
resid ing at Orizaba. We’ve never wanted for anything, 
and have lived just as we always have; but I don’t 
think uncle has near so much money now as he had a 
year ago. ” 

“You haven’t told me how you came to be prisoner 
to guerilleros," I suggested. 

“ Oh, that happened this way. Uncle had a letter 
from Senor Portales telling him about some mines that 
were very rich. So he made us pack up and we trav- 
eled in a coach that he bought, with an escort that 
we hired at Orizaba. Not many miles from where you 
found us, a band of men on horseback came galloping 
up, and our escort, instead of protecting us, at once 
helped them to make us prisoners. But we won’t talk 
of that any more, please. I don’t like to think of the 
horrible time I passed in the hands of those wretches. 
Besides, I must go back to uncle and Evelyn. But be- 
fore 1 go, tell me one thing. There is surely a mistake 
somewhere, and I wish you would let me make it up. 
Mayn’t I tell Evelyn that you don’t know what you 
can have done to anger her, and ask her to let you see 
her and have an explanation? ” 

“ My dear girl, you are an angel of goodness, and I 
thank you for your kind intentions from the bottom of 
my heart,” I answered. “ But please let matters rest 
just as they are. Miss Vernon, I am positive, could 
never have really loved me, or she would not have 
treated me as she did. And for my part I feel now 
that I was mistaken in thinking that I loved her.” 

“Don’t you love Evelyn any more, then?” the girl 
said, with her big blue eyes fixed earnestly on mine. 

“Ido not,” was my decisive reply. “I am very 
glad that matters have turned out as they did, for I 


152 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


feel that my passion for Evelyn Vernon was not the 
love a man should have for the woman he marries. 
Had we been wed I fear that in time we would have 
come to hate each other cordially.” 

I think Miss Rowell came a trifle closer to me, and 
her voice was lower as she said: “You are quite sure, 
then, that you don’t wish to see Evelyn again, if only 
to find out why she acted as she did?” 

“ Why should I wish to find out a thing to which I 
am now perfectly indifferent? ” I laughed. “No, no. 
Miss Alys, I’m much obliged for your offer, but it’s 
not worth the trouble.” 

“Very well, then, I won’t say a word of it to her. 
Now, I have been here long enough, and you must take 
me back to the lieutenant.” The sweet voice sounded 
a trifle sad to my ears. 

“ But hold on a bit,” I objected. “You have not 
told me when and how I am to see you again.” 

“ Me ! Do you want to see me again, then? Why? ” 
Those great blue eyes looked up at me in a way that 
made my heart stand still. For all in a moment I 
knew why I wished to see her again. 

“ Never mind why, but tell me when and how.” My 
tone was an entreaty. I don’t know what there was 
in my eyes to make Alys drop her own, but she did, 
and her cheeks grew hot with blushes. 

“The Senorita Corona Portales walks every evening 
on the Alameda, with the Lieutenant Moret, who is 
her fiance^ and her mamma. To-morrow I intend to 
join them,” she said in a voice that was almost a whis- 
per. 

“Until to-morrow, then,” I answered, raising the 
little white hand to my lips. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

PAP TOMASITO’S CAVALRY CHARGE. 

I HAD noticed that it was the custom of all the in- 
habitants of Queretara who made any pretension to 
wealth or fashion to promenade during the early even- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


153 


ing hours upon the Alameda, a public square situated 
between the Cruz and the gate del Pueblito. Up to 
this time I had felt no inclination to join in their 
amusement, but on the evening following my meeting 
with Miss Rowell at the Theater Iturbide I mingled 
early with the crowd of sehors and sehoritas who thronged 
the square and whiled away the moments in gay con- 
versation. 

The Senora Portales was a plump, dark lady, prob- 
ably forty-five as to years, and of a discreet and placid 
demeanor. Her daughter, the Senorita Corona, was 
a pretty girl of the Mexican type of beauty, with lus- 
trous black hair and eyes, pouting coral lips, and a 
clear olive skin. She gave me a demure glance when 
I first came up to her party, that made me think her 
quite well acquainted with the way matters stood be- 
tween myself and her father’s guests. 

So I made my best bow to both the Mexican ladies, 
and then attached myself exclusively to Miss Rowell. 
I suppose the Senora made some allowances because 
we were Americanos.^' 

At all events she was content to walk along with 
her daughter and the gorgeous Lieutenant Moret, pay- 
ing little attention to the movements of my fair coun- 
trywoman and myself. So we presently were separated 
from them in the crowd, and, wandering off together, 
found a cosy little seat on the southern side of the 
square. This we occupied, and were supremely happy. 
At least I was, and when the time came for Alys Row- 
ell to return to the Portales mansion I am sure that she 
was far from anxious to leave me. We parted agree- 
ing to see each other on the next day at the same time, 
and our rendezvous was promptly kept by both of us. 

Every evening for a week we met in this way, and 
never have I known the time to pass so sweetly and 
rapidly as it did during our walks upon the Alameda. 

But sterner work was close at hand, and my pleasant 
saunter amid the gardens of Venus was soon to end. 
Instead of the flower-laden evening air, my lungs were 
to be filled with the sulphurous breath of war, and the 
peaceful garrison life at Queretaro was to be changed 
for the stirring experiences of a soldier in the field. 

By order of General Mejia, my company was trans- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


IS4 

ferred to the regiment Quiroga, confessedly the best 
of the Imperial cavalry. 

The Emperor reviewed the whole of this arm on 
the first of March, and complimented General Mejia 
highly on their excellent appearance. For the most 
part the men were well mounted, and the uniforms of 
all were bright and new. 

Patrols of horse had been sent in the direction of 
San Luis Potosi, and from their reports, as well as 
from the priests and farmers of the country round 
about, we learned that strong forces of the Liberals 
were concentrating at San Martin and Celaya. On 
the fourth of March it was rumored that they were 
advancing. Toward nightfall on the afternoon of the 
fifth, the first of the hostile columns appeared on the 
plain west of the Cerro de la Campana 

The city of Queretaro was ill adapted for defense. 
It is a town of perhaps fifty thousand inhabitants, and 
stands on the southern side of the Rio Blanca River. 
The river is fordable in many places, and has but one 
bridge, this one being at the end of the Calle Mira- 
flores, a principal street that begins at the northwest 
corner of the Alameda and passes through the center 
of the city. The course of the stream is from east to 
west, but below the city it turns toward the south. 

The town has the form of a quadrangle, and stands 
in a valley. The opposite heights are but a short can- 
non shot apart. 

On the north bank of the Rio Blanca the suburb 
San Luis pushes its gardens and villas up the hill known 
as the Cerro San Gregorio. Parallel to San Gregorio 
the loftier Cerro San Pablo extends northward, be- 
tween them a valley some four hundred yards broad. 
The Cerro la Cantara runs eastward behind San Pablo, 
and, bending south, comes near the Rio Blanca, within 
a hundred feet of the city. 

Opposite this end of the Cerro la Cantara begins a 
range of hills running southwest and curving to the 
western end of the city, a plain, perhaps a thousand 
feet wide, dividing them. These hills are known col- 
lectively as the Cerro el Cimatario, though different 
names are given to separate elevations. Over one of 
them, the Cuesta China^ we had marched into Quere- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


155 


taro. Nearer to the city at the west of the Cimatario 
is the single hill El Jacal. The Cerro de la Campana 
stands in the midst of a plain about five hundred yards 
west of the city. 

The strongest point in our lines was the Cruz, where 
later the Emperor had his headquarters. The Casa 
Blanca, a solid stone house and barn between the 
gate of Pueblito and the Alameda, also formed a stout 
post for defense. 

No one doubted that the Liberal forces would com- 
mence active operations at once, and, during the night 
of the fifth of March, the Emperor formed his army to 
repel the expected assault, the cavalry of Mejia being 
drawn up in column of regiments between the Casa 
Blanca and the Alameda. Two infantry regiments 
guarded our left flank. 

From deserters who came in during the night we 
learned that the forces in front of us were commanded 
by General Escobedo and numbered eighteen thousand 
men. As this officer had a reputation for caution, our 
hopes of a speedy assault were lessened. 

The seventh and eighth of March passed without a 
movement of the troops on either side. But in the 
night Escobedo, seeing that Marquez had left the 
Cerro San Pablo, commanding the city, unoccupied, 
seized the gate on the road toward the north at the 
foot of the hill, and placed a strong force in the chapel 
on its crest. Our right flank was thus menaced. 

Despite our attack and some skirmishing, during 
the next afternoon the Liberals occupied San Pablo in 
stronger numbers, and the heights of La Cantara were 
also crowded with their troops. At the same time a 
mas‘ of infantry was pushed over the Cuesta China and 
a battery was at once begun on that hill. No change 
took place in the ground occupied by the troops under 
Mejia, we still remaining behind the Casa Blanca, 
ready to sweep the plain. 

Toward six o’clock in the evening, as I was about to 
give the word to my disgusted troopers to dismount 
and prepare for the night, the sullen boom of cannon 
was heard from the Cuesta China. 

The siege of Queretaro was begun ! 

Strolling about among the men, and listening to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


156 

their conversation as they smoked their dgarritos that 
evening, I noticed there seemed to be a good deal of 
dissatisfaction with General Marquez He was se- 
verely criticised by the more intelligent for not occu- 
pying San Pablo. The old soldiers of the regiment 
Quiroga insisted that it would have been to our 
advantage had we assailed the enemy on the seventh. 
That happened to be my own opinion, and I was not 
ill-pleased to find that these veterans thought as I did. 

The eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth days of March 
went by, and save the occasional fire from Cuesta China 
no effort to take the city was made. 

The morning of the fourteenth came, bright and 
clear, and with it unusual manifestations of activity 
among our foes. Bugles brayed continually, staff- 
olficers could be seen riding furiously from point to 
point. It was evident that some important movement 
was in contemplation. Gradually the heavy columns 
were massed, and we saw that the threatened storm of 
infantry would menace three of our positions — the 
Cruz, the bridge over the Rio Blanca, and the Cerro 
de la Campana. Strong cavalry forces were also com- 
ing into view south of us. It was plain to all that they 
were forming for an attack upon our position between 
the Alameda and the Casa Blanca. 

About half-past nine o’clock our squadrons moved out 
into the plain at a walk, and drew up in two lines, the 
regiment Quiroga in the center of the first. Once formed 
we sat quiet in our saddles, our hands firm on our 
ready weapons, and watched the mass of Liberal horse- 
men as they deployed and took up their ground. They 
were numerous enough, I thought, as I tried to judge 
their strength, to stamp our less numerous cavalry 
into the plain, and trample them to powder. 

“By Jove! I don’t believe we’ve half the force that 
they have !” I muttered. “Will the men stand, I 
wonder?” 

Almost immediately I got my answer. Off to the 
left of our line a clamor broke out, faint at first, louder 
and louder as it ran along the ranks behind me as I sat 
in front of my company. Then, as a little yellow 
officer blazing with orders and embroidery galloped in 
front of me on a big gray horse, his eyes fired with the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


157 


light of coming battle, and his right hand waving a 
lance high in the air, my own men took up the cry: 

'‘'‘Viva! Viva Pap Tomasito! Viva el General! A muorte 
los Chinacoa ! Viva ! Viva ! Mejia ! ” 

I whirled my saber and joined in their shouts. For 
the sight of “Pap Tomasito,” as the Indians, among 
whom he was an absolute king, were wont to call him, 
had banished all doubts from my mind. The little 
general’s air of gay confidence made one feel that he 
could face the whole Liberal army and conquer. 

Ten o’clock pealed from the bells of Queretaro. 
With the first stroke of the hour the Liberal battery 
on the Cuesta China became a smoking volcano, and a 
hail of projectiles was poured upon the Cruz. Promptly 
at the sound of guns, the cavalry bugles sang out the 
signal for the foes before us to advance. The dust 
began to rise in clouds from the plain as they came on, 
their horses at a trot. 

Half the distance between us was covered, when 
out from our front the fiery Mejia dashed on his pow- 
erful gray, and waved the lance he carried (a weapon 
with which he was very skillful), in sign to us to 
follow. 

The reins dropped loose on our impatient chargers’ 
necks, the spurs were sent home again and again, and 
our line, a mass of yelling faces, extended arms, and 
brandished weapons, swept down upon the Liberal 
horse with the rush of a tornado. 

By Jove! that was a crash! 

They did not quite meet us, but broke and fled when 
we were within ten paces of them. 

I saw the terrible little man who headed us spear 
two of them through the back with the utmost cool- 
ness. His rush had carried him among the fleeing 
ranks, and a terrified trooper he had passed suddenly 
recognized him. 

“ Mira! ” he yelled, Pap Tomasito! ” and dropping 
the saber he was using on the flanks of his horse, to 
increase the animal’s speed, he plucked a revolver 
from its holster and leveled it at the General’s back. 

But that sorrel horse of mine, the gift of the beau- 
tiful wife of El Cojo, being swifter than Mejia’s gray. 
I had gained so much on the General that I was only 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


15S 

a few paces in rear of him. Before the desperate 
devil could fire I sent my blade clear through his 
body, and the force of the blow sprinkled my face 
with his spurting blood. 

On we chased the fugitive cavalry, past the Cerro 
Cimatario to their camp at the Estancia de las vacas. 
Then we wheeled and trotted back to our original posi- 
tion; The foe had run away promptly, and at no slow 
pace. Still, one hundred and thirty of them lay 
bleeding on the plain, and we had seventy prisoners. 

As we came back to form on the ground in front of 
the Casa Blanca, dense masses of infantry were seen 
moving rapidly against the eastern side of the Cruz. 
The guns of the Cuesta China covered them with their 
fire, and without flinching they carried the Pantheon 
chapel which Marquez had neglected to defend. At 
the same time thick clouds of smoke from the bridge 
at the end of the Calle Miraflores and the rattle of 
guns in that quarter showed that the Cazadores, now 
commanded by the German Prince Salm-Salm, who 
held that position, were violently assailed. 

The Austrian Captain Linger, with forty men, had 
mounted to the roof of the convent of the Cruz. So 
desperately did these few soldiers fight that, in spite 
of the cannon fire from the Cuesta China, they kept 
the enemy from advancing farther than the Pantheon 
chapel, and held them at bay for over an hour. At 
last the brave Linger fell, shot through the forehead, 
and his men abandoned the roof. With deafening 
shouts the Liberals then advanced upon the large yard 
of the Cruz, and bravely tried to force their way 
through the natural fence of cactus plants. But the 
convent was now occupied in force by the soldiers of 
Mendez, and a terrible fire sent the assailants reeling 
back to the chapel again. 

It was now nearly twelve o’clock. The enemy had 
been unable to make any impression upon the bridge, 
and their cavalry had been driven on the plain. But 
their forces held part of the Cruz, and strong reinforce- 
ments were niarching swiftly to aid them. The column 
that up to this time had only threatened the Cerro de 
la Campana was also being strengthened. Their beaten 
horsemen, too, had been re-formed, and as their infan- 


A PASSING EMPEROR^ 


159 


try fell back to the Pantheon a long line of cavalry 
came sweeping over the Cerro el Cimatario and moved 
out upon the ground that it was our task to hold. 

Was our victory to be plucked from us? 

Again the shrill voice of the wiry little Mejia rose 
high on the air as he spurred to our front, and at a 
headlong gallop we charged the enemy. In a cloud of 
dust the lines came together. For one mad, delirious 
moment, banners tossed, revolvers cracked, sabers and 
lances rose and fell amid the dun haze of the murky 
mantle of war. 

The wall of foemen before us bent, bulged out, 
resisted, and gave back. 

With a mighty yell our line forced its way through, 
and we were galloping across an open space with scat- 
tered bands of horsemen streaming away on either side 
before us. Their second line came dashing madly upon 
us. There was no time to re-form, but Mejia, brandish- 
ing his bloody lance, called still to advance, and hand to 
hand we closed with the Liberal reserves. Men and 
horses on either side went down by scores, and over 
their mangled bodies the hostile squadrons plunged, 
while lance, saber, and machete did their deadly work 
and ceased to flash back the rays of the sun from their 
polished surfaces, now dyed in the red stream of 
carnage. 

Dearly as our leader loved the frenzy of close battle, 
he had his wits about him, and our supporting squad- 
rons now advanced at his summons. Their encourag- 
ing cheers made us fight more fiercely, if possible, but 
for a time it seemed as if we had found foemen worthy 
of our steel. The Chinaco troopers stood to their work 
like men, and plied their weapons with desperate cour- 
age. Bravely as they fought, they fought in vain, and 
at last they gave it up and we drove them back between 
Cimatario and El Jacal. 

Just as they broke, the bearer of one of their guidons 
fired at me with a revolver. I was close to him at the 
time, and, seeing his aim, I pushed my horse alongside 
of his and grasped him by the throat. His shot did 
me no harm, and I dragged him from his saddle. 
Corporal Ramon Vegas was beside me. To him I 
turned over my captive when I had torn the banner 


l6o -A PASSING EMPEROR. 

away from him. Wheeling my horse, I was about to 
devote myself to collecting my troop at once, when a 
loud report sounded directly in rear of me. I turned 
my head quickly. The luckless color bearer was flat 
on the ground, his head literally blown to bits, and a 
huge, old-fashioned horsepistol that still smoked in the 
hand of Corporal Vegas told whence his death had 
come. 

“By Heaven, Corporal Vegas!” I shouted, angrily. 
“How dare you shoot a prisoner of war! Report 
yourself under arrest at once ! ” 

‘ ‘ I had to do it, Sefior Capitan^ ” the corporal answered 
respectfully. “Scarcely had you shown your back 
to him when the accursed Chinaco jerked his knife 
from his boot and started to let you have it between 
the shoulders. Look ! ” He pointed to the prostrate 
body. 

In the stiffening right hand of the corpse was 
clutched a murderous-looking knife. I shuddered, for 
the thought of getting that long blade in one’s body 
unawares was not pleasant. 

“Your pardon, Vegas, I was in fault,” I said, 
promptly. “ Your shot saved my life, and depend 
upon it, 1 won’t forget you for this. But, Dios ! man,” 
I continued, as I looked again at my would-be assas- 
sin. “What in the deuce did you shoot him with? 
His head is a total wreck ! ” 

Ramon Vegas grinned as he waved the pistol before 
my eyes. 

“ Buckshot and pieces of nails, capitan. ” He smiled 
serenely. “I have both of my big pistols loaded so.” 

“ The devil you have ! On my word, this is pleasant 
sort of fighting! ” I thought as I rode away to aict in 
re-forming the regiment. “ I hope to goodness none 
of the enemy have the same genial ideas as to ammu- 
nition! ” 

Mejia was prompt in collecting his somewhat scat- 
tered troops, and within half an hour our cavalry was 
again in line of battle on the plain beyond El Jacal. 
Many officers have since blamed Pap Tomasito for not 
pushing his men farther into the enemy’s position, and 
taking the battery on the Cuesta China, whose bare 
flank invited our attack. Had we done so the victory 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


i6i 

of the day would have been still more complete, there 
is no denying. But our horses were blown, and the 
men had done some exhausting fighting. The bodies 
of seven hundred of the Liberal cavalry, prone on the 
plain, told how severely the field had been disputed. 

The enemy now resumed their effort to take the 
bridge, and near the Chapel de la Cruz del Cerro great 
columns of infantry were seen to assemble. They 
brought a rifled Parrott gun into the street on the left 
of the Meson Sebastian, and its fire raked the Calle 
Miraflores, sending shells as far as the Plaza de Armas 
in the center of the city, killing several citizens. 

Accordingly General Mejia sent the regiment of the 
Empress to protect the flank of the Cazadores, and led 
by Prince Salm-Salm that brave battalion advanced 
upon the Liberals with the bayonet. Despite the can- 
ister that was poured into their ranks they drove the 
hostile infantry into the houses and seized the gun. 
An awful butchery then ensued, for the Cazadores 
were nearly all Frenchmen, and in revenge for their 
captive countrymen murdered at San Jacinto they gave 
no quarter, bursting open the doors of the dwellings 
where the fugitives had taken refuge and putting all 
they found to the sword. The brave and able Salm- 
Salm followed up his success and drove the Liberals 
over the brow of San Gregorio. But though he earnest- 
ly besought Colonel Lopez, commanding the regiment 
of the Empress, to charge and complete the victory, 
that officer refused, alleging that the ground was not 
practicable for cavalry. 

An order from General Valdez, commanding at the 
bridge, then recalled the Cazadores, and they came 
back to the Meson Sebastian, bringing with them the 
captured Parrott. 

It was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon when Es- 
cobedo, having heavily reinforced his men at the Pan- 
theon Chapel, made a last endeavor to carry the Cruz by 
storm. The Liberals charged, cheering wildly. They 
swept across the large yard and assailed the convent 
with desperate valor. At this decisive moment the 
gallant Colonel Don Sefferino Rodriguez, with the third 
battalion of the line, met them in a vigorous counter- 
charge that hurled their line back in disorder. And 


i 62 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Rodriguez, fiercely urging on his men, recaptured the 
Pantheon and the chapel, even pursuing the beaten 
Chinacos for several hundred yards. 

This repulse was final, and the conflict was over. 
Six hundred of the imperial army had fallen, but as the 
enemy had fought in the open field, their slain 
cumbered the field by thousands. 

About half after five the Emperor rode along the 
lines, accompanied by Marquez, Miramon, and the staff. 
Throughout the whole day he had remained on the 
Plaza de la Cruz, cool and fearless, amid the storm of 
shells that rained on that position. Despite the en- 
treaties of the Generals, he would not quit his danger- 
ous post, and the news of his behavior had run from 
regiment to regiment, until the story of his bravery 
was known throughout the army. Everywhere his 
presence was greeted with enthusiastic shouts from the 
soldiers. As he passed before the cavalry, his look 
was bold and elated, and his sparkling eyes and flushed 
cheeks betokened hopes for the future. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE OATH OF MARQUEZ. 

As there was no fear that the beaten troops of 
Escobedo would be able to rally before morning, our 
cavalry was withdrawn to the city that night. The 
moment I had procured a much needed change of 
clothing, I set out to visit Teddy Callahan and find 
how he had fared in the battle. 

The night was dark. To the roar of cannon and 
musketry a solemn stillness had succeeded. The 
streets were deserted, for the citizens kept to their 
houses, and the troops were worn out by the labors of 
the day. The clocks, too, were silent, for in the ex- 
citement no one had thought to wind them, and the 
watchmen, whose task it was to call the hours, snored 
undisturbed in the shelter of convenient doorways. 
None of the dogs whose presence offends the stranger 
in every Mexican city were to be seen. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


163 

Upon the bloody plain a horrid meal was dished up 
for them, and they had left the town to gorge themselves 
with human flesh. 

Teddy had not come out of the fight so luckily as I. 
The lance of a Chinaco had been driven through his 
left thigh, inflicting a painful though not dangerous 
wound. He had repaid the lancer with a blow that 
cleft him from the shoulder to the saddle, but he 
seemed to derive little consolation from this fact, be- 
wailing the hard luck that would keep him from fight- 
ing next day. 

“I’m proud of the way ye handled that saber of 
yours, though, me son,” he said heartily. “Ye’ve 
made a name for yourself throughout the cavalry this 
day. Did ye know that the men call ye ‘ El Tigre 
Gringo' now, since they saw the way ye walked into 
the Chinacos ? I hear that ivery man ye hit went 
down before ye, and needed no second blow.” 

“That’s news to me, old man,” I answered truth- 
fully. “On my word, I only remember the death of 
two fellows. ” 

“Whether ye know it or not, it’s a deal of damage 
ye did in the row, and I’ll put money on the fact that 
Pap Tomasito marked ye. He has eyes in the back 
of his head, has that same little man. He saw me de- 
stroy the divil with the spear that gave me this” — ‘ 
pointing to his bandaged thigh — “and a minute after- 
ward he comes riding alongside of me. ‘Ye handle a 
sword like a man,’ he yells, ‘but don’t strike so hard. 
Ye’ll be gasiados before we’ve done with them.’ Oh! 
he’s a jewel in a ruction, is Pap Tomasito! ” 

That the General had eyes for everything I soon de- 
cided myself, for early next morning an orderly 
brought me word to repair to Mejia’s quarters. The 
little man greeted me with a broad smile of approval 
that made his ugly face resemble one of those gro- 
tesque, hideous nut-crackers that one rarely sees now- 
adays. 

“You look none the worse for your exercise yester- 
day, Major Bellhurst,” he commented as he motioned 
me to sit down. 

“ Capitan, not Major, with my apologies for ventur- 
ing to correct the General,” I rejoined. 


164 


A PASSING EMPERO&.. 


“ As I’ve made you a major myself I ought to know 
what I’m talking about, ” the little Indian said. “The 
order will be published this evening along with others. 

You are to turn over your troop to the officer next in 
rank, and will serve on my personal staff. I’ve had 
my eye on you, and I watched you fight yesterday. 
How is your friend, by the way, that mad Irishman? 

He is a fine swordsman, but he puts too much force 
into his blows. Dios ! but he cut the Chinaco that 
wounded him almost in two! ” 

“May I dare to ask that your favor be extended to 
him before you think of me, General? ” 

“ You need not worry about him at all,” was the re- 
Dly. “ I told of that blow, at headquarters, last night, 
and Mendez, who loves a good blade, is wild about 
him. So I have promised to give your friend to him. 
He’ll see plenty of fighting then, for Don Ramon loves 
the smell of powder. As for you, you will take up 
your duties at once. There are pens and paper on the 
table yonder, and here are the recommendations for 
promotion. Copy them into one document, paying 
heed to the notes I have made on the margins. If 
you have any soldiers in your own late command whom 
you wish to advance, you may insert their names, giv- 
ing good reasons for mentioning them. After you 
finish, you may attend to the transfer of your troop, 
and then you belong to me.” 

The General left the room abruptly, while I set my- 
self to the accomplishment of the duty he had assigned ; 
to me. You may be certain that the name of Ray- 
mond Vegas was recommended for a sergeantcy, and 
I am happy to say that he attained the grade. i 

Had I commanded the army of the Emperor Maxi- j 

milian, the fifteenth of March would have seen my 1 

columns at the throats of the Liberals. “Their 
troops must be much shaken and discouraged by the 
events of yesterday,” I reasoned, “and if the whole < 
of our infantry is thrown upon San Gregorio and San 
Pablo, while our cavalry crushes theirs at Cimatario, 
Escobedo’s force will be annihilated.” 

But those in the seats of the mighty thought differ- 
ently. No advance was made on the fifteenth, and at 
night a council of war, held at the Cruz, decided not to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


anticipate the movements of the enemy. I waited for 
General Mejia while the council was sitting, and as 
we walked back to his quarters he called me to his 
side, for he seemed to fancy me, and frankly discussed 
the state of affairs. 

“ Salm-Salm wanted battle, and if he had been left 
alone we would have fought,” Mejia told me. “But 
Marquez is for waiting until all of Escobedo’s men ar- 
rive, and then finish them in a body. That settled the 
question, for the Emperor listens only to Marquez.” 

“But doesn’t it seem to you. General, ” I asked, ‘ ‘ that 
to wait for the further concentration of the enemy is ill- 
advised? Surely one of the best knownrules of war is to 
take advantage of a scattered foe. Why allow Escobedo 
time to rally his men and receive reinforcements?” 

“ Marquez is a man of much experience in war and 
politics,” replied the General. “Rethinks it better 
to wait, and, therefore, wait we must.” 

“ But what is your own opinion?” I persisted. “ Don’t 
you think that we should be the victors if we attacked 
them at once?” 

^^Quien sabeV he said, shrugging his shoulders. 
“They fought better yesterday than I ever saw them 
fight before, and I have had some few chances of 
knowing their qualities in battle. Besides, the word 
is ‘ to wait,’ and that is enough. We cannot fight un- 
til Marquez says that ‘the moment has come.” 

I began to suspect what I afterward found to be 
true, that General Mejia, bold as he was in the field, 
was timid and hesitating in council, and usually fol- 
lowed the opinion of the majority. So modest was this 
brave man that, though endowed with almost super- 
human courage, and possessed of rare skill in the hand- 
ling of cavalry, he distrusted his own powers, and 
bowed before the opinions of men who were inferior to 
him in the art of making war. Marquez and Miramon 
were both of them less able to command than Pap 
Tomasito. And yet their words governed the course 
of our operations. The first, vile traitor as he was, 
counseled the Emperor with his own selfish ends in 
view. The second, a pompous, inefficient fool in mat- 
ters of war, sacrificed our hopes and chances of suc- 
cess to his own blind self-conceit again and again. 


i66 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Through the fifteenth and the night following, the 
Liberal leaders had brought their scattered troops back 
into line and erected batteries. With dawn on the 
sixteenth the bombardment opened, and a hail of pro- 
jectiles of every description was poured upon Quer^- 
taro. Our batteries replied. All day the cannon roared 
on both sides, the fire ceasing only with the coming of 
darkness. The inhabtants, in terror, at first sought the 
shelter of their houses. But as the bombardment 
became a daily occurrence, business was resumed, 
and the ladies, even, made their afternoon promenad-es 
as usual. 

Until the twentieth of March every man among our 
troops was actively engaged in the work of strength- 
ening the defenses of the town. Breastworks were 
built, and the buildings that were near the enemy were 
loop-holed and pierced with embrasures for cannon. 

From our position in the city we could see much that 
went on in the camps of the besiegers. The Liberals 
wore uniforms of white cotton or linen for the most 
part, with patches of different-colored cloth, to mark 
their regiments. As each man had only one suit, fre- 
quent washings were needed, and we often saw the 
soldiers walking around the camp entirely naked, wait- 
ing for their clothes to dry. 

As it had been nearly two weeks since I saw Miss 
Rowell, I was impatient for a chance to meet her. 
But I supposed that the cannon of the Liberals would 
prevent her leaving the house of Senor Portales, and 
my duties kept me busy every day and often late into 
the night. On the afternoon of the nineteenth I was 
galloping across the Plaza Independencia, when I rec- 
ognized her golden head among a group of ladies who 
were walking along at the usual pace, paying no heed 
to the shells that screamed and moaned as they flew 
over the city. I pulled up short, and dismounted, 
throwing my horse’s bridle to the orderly who accom- 
panied me. 

Miss Rowell looked at me coldly. As I raised my 
sombrero in greeting, there was no smile of welcome 
upon her face. 

“This is injudicious, to say the least, Miss Alys,’^ I 
said without any preface. “The streets are far from 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


167 


safe, and I wish that you would return home as fast 
as you can. Several ladies have been either killed or 
injured since the firing began, and more will suffer 
unless they keep within doors.” 

“ I am really at a loss to know what concern you 
can have in my safety, Mr. Bellhurst,’’ came from that 
lovely mouth in cutting accents. “ So far from regret- 
ting that 1 ventured out this afternoon I am very glad 
of it, for I have a few words for you that I would sa}’^ 
as soon as possible.” 

She spoke in her own language. The Mexican ladies 
with her evidently did not understand ; they strolled 
slowly on as she stopped. We were alone. 

“ Why, Alys,” I began, but she cut me short. 

“ I will request you not to use my first name when 
you speak of me, Mr. Bellhurst, ’’ she said in piti- 
lessly contemptuous tones. “ I say speak <?/ me, for 
this is the last chance you will e^^^er get to speak with 
me. You look astonished. You will be more so when 
you learn the reason for what I have just said Evelyn 
Vernon has at last told me why she broke her engage- 
ment to you. She had learned that I had been meet- 
ing you on the Alameda, and she wished to open my 
eyes to your true character. I am glad to say that I 
know you now as you are.” 

“ And what do you think of me? ’T asked haughtily, 
for her manner cut me deeper than her words. 

“ I think you are the falsest, most contemptible 
specimen of a man I have ever known,” she answered 
bitterly. “ It makes it all the worse that you have the 
semblance of truth, and possess a face and manner that 
lead women to confide in you. But I will waste no 
more words. Stand aside, Mr. Bellhurst, and let me 
join my friends. Our acquaintance ceases here.” 

“As you wish, beautiful Alys,” .1 replied with a 
laugh. “Don’t start so angrily, it was only my last 
farewell to your name. I won’t trouble you in the 
future. But go home at once all the same. Death is 
in the air, and shells pay no respect to youth or beauty. 
Look there!” 

A woman, either the wife or mistress of the soldier 
on duty at the corner of the Plaza, was crossing the 
square carrying a small platter in her hands, evidently 


i68 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


the sentinel’s supper, for discipline was not very strict 
in some of the regiments and the men ate and smoked 
while on post. She had almost reached the man who 
awaited her, and a smile of joy at seeing him was on 
her face, when a shell struck the ground within a yard 
of her, exploding as it touched the earth. Amid the 
flash and smoke of the bursting projectile I saw the 
woman fall. The soldier to whom she had been bring- 
ing the food set his rifle against the wall, ran over to 
her body and thrust his hand into her bosom. To feel 
if her heart still beat, you doubtless think? By no 
means. The wretch withdrew his hand presently, 
clutching the money and cigarettes (that most Mexican 
women carry in their bosoms), and walked coolly back 
to his rifle. 

Miss Rowell turned very white, but she merely gave 
me a stony nod of adieu and walked on to join her 
friends. As for me I was angered and disgusted, and 
mounted my horse in no pleasant frame of mind. Well, 
if she wished to see no more of me, I could bear it. 
“ She’s not the only woman in the world,” I tried to 
think. But I couldn’t quite manage it. Though as 
yet I did not own it even to myself. Therefore I 
brought all my pride into play, and resolved to forget 
Alys Rowell amid the perilous happenings of the siege. 

On the twentieth of March an important council of 
war was held, and it was resolved to maintain the city, 
and wait for an opportunity to inflict a decisive defeat 
on Escobedo’s army. The Emperor also was per- 
suaded to send General Marquez to Mexico, that he 
might assemble all the troops in the city, and march to 
the relief of Queretaro. 

In the presence of all Marquez gave his word of 
honor to return to Queretaro within a fortnight, what- 
ever might happen. 

About midnight on the twenty-third Marquez and 
Vidaurri, accompanied by their staffs, left the town. 
They were escorted by the regiment Quiroga and the 
fifth regiment of cavalry, numbering in all eleven 
hundred men. Their course was between Cerro 
Cimatario and El Jacal. 

Two hours later three red rockets rising in the night 
told us they had passed the Liberal lines. This escape 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


169 


greatly excited our enemies, for they were under the 
impression that the Emperor had gone with Marquez, 
and a strong cavalry column started in pursuit. They 
did not come up with him, and Marquez arrived 
at Mexico in safety. 

The twenty-third also saw the Liberal army greatly 
strengthened by the arrival of the troops under 
Generals Riva Palacio, Carebajal, and Martinez. This 
reinforcement swelled the force of Escobedo to over 
forty thousand men, and they had between seventy 
and eighty pieces of artillery. 

The different engagements and the departure of 
two regiments with Marquez had thinned our ranks, 
and within the walls of Queretaro only six thousand 
five hundred men mustered under the eagles of Maxi- 
milian. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

CAPTAIN VALLONGA. 

Early on the morning of the twenty-fourth reports 
came from the signal station of the Cruz that the 
enemy were in motion. The bugles sounded to horse, 
and we were soon drawn up on our old ground beyond 
the Alameda. 

From where I curbed my fretting charger among the 
numerous staff of General Mejia, I could see long lines 
of infantry, cavalry, and artillery leave the heights of 
Cuesta China and pour their thousands toward Cerro 
Cimatario. It was plain that no idle display of force 
was intended, and all their movements pointed to an 
attack against the right corner of the Alameda 

Behind the wall inclosing the promenade stood the 
battalion of Tiradores, Colonel Miramon commanding. 
Before the wall, opposite its middle part, was a three- 
gun battery, and a fourth piece stood at the menaced 
corner of the square. 

General Mendez, who awaited the coming assault in 
person, sent for Salm-Salm’s brigade, and at ten o’clock 
the second battalion of the line filed into the trenches 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


170 

extending from the corner of the Alameda to the Casa 
Blanca, and the German prince’s battery galloped up 
and unlimbered before the Casa. Salm-Salm himself, 
with the fifth and fourteenth battalions of the line, the 
battalion Zamora and the Cazadores, remained in the 
Alameda. 

'■'‘For Dios! gentlemen, the Chinacos mean to have 
Queretaro this time!” said Mejia, with a laugh, as 
we watched the infantry march up and deploy. 
“There’ll be little for us to do to-day, muchachos^ 
the fun will all fall to the division Mendez. Carajo ! 
They look well as they come on ; I’ll say that for 
them.” ^ 

As he spoke the batteries of the enemy opened fire, 
and under their protecting iron hail we could see the 
dense, white-clad column advancing at a run. On they 
came amid the clouds of smoke and dust, and to meet 
them the troops of Salm Salm presently marched out 
from the Alameda and swung into line. 

“Ride! Major Bellhurst,” the General^shouted in 
my ear. “Ride like the devil to the Colonel Gonzales, 
who has the regiment Empress. Bid him charge them 
to the teeth the moment Salm-Salm gives fire. Tell 
him to have no care for his flanks or rear, I will 
attend to that, but let him charge home and give them 
the cold steel.” 

“May I join in the charge. General? ” I said, as I 
settled myself in the saddle. 

Santissima Vfrgenf yes! But ride and give him 
the order; they are coming on like a flood! ” 

I put spurs to my horse, and dashed up to Colonel 
Gonzales at the top of his speed. 

Just as I finished, an officer, mounted on a speedy 
black, came galloping furiously toward us. 

“ Hurry, Jack! me son, is it you? ” he shouted, as 
he pulled up. “Ye’re in time for the ball ; for I bring 
orders from General Mendez that this regiment is to 
charge. Is this the Colonel?” 

“The Major Bellhurst has already directed me to 
advance by order of General Mejia, and does the 
regiment Empress the honor to join in the charge.” 
said Colonel Gonzales with a bow. 

“ Then, by me soul, ye’ve got another addition to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


171 

your force, for Terence Callahan will ride with ye 
this day, if all the Chinacos not yet in Hades were 
opposed to ye.” 

With that, Teddy, now serving on the staff of 
General Mendez, and barely permitted by his punc- 
tured thigh to back a horse, ranged himself at my 
side and drew his saber. 

The Liberal column, six thousand strong, and led 
by General Martinez, had come within one hundred 
and fifty paces of Salm-Salm’s expectant troops. With 
a crash the artillery sent a shower of canister among 
them, and a pitiless storm of musketry burst forth 
and struck them in the face. As the flame and smoke 
of their volley ran along the line of the Prince’s in- 
fantry, the bugles of the regiment Empress rang out 
merrily, and the swift torrent of horsemen burst upon 
the disordered mass. Madly they strove to rally, and 
their officers did their best to urge the broken ranks 
forward. Our horses trampled them into the earth, 
carbines and revolvers cracked on all sides, and sabers 
and lances were busy reaping the red harvest of the field. 

In vain the infantry of Martinez endeavored to make 
head against us. Back we forced them with bloody 
hoof and saber, and they scattered in flight toward 
Cerro Cimatario. We swept fiercely along in the 
wake of the fugitives, plying our merciless blades un- 
til our arms ached with the killing and the brown plain 
was thickly strewn with their white forms. Then we 
rode back, bringing with us several hundred prisoners. 

“ ’Tis no mistake the men made when they called ye 
a tiger. Jack,” said Teddy, in half regretful accents, as 
we trotted along side by side on our return. “Ye rode 
over those poor divils like a madman, and look at the 
blade ye carry! Pah! but ye’re a filthy sight!” 

“Why, what the deuce do you mean, anyway?” I 
asked, wonderingly, regarding my dripping saber for a 
moment, and then shoving it into the scabbard after 
I had wiped it clean on my horse’s mane. “Weren’t 
you as far into them as I was? I thought that was you 
to my left all the time.” 

“ So it was, and I kept up with ye, for that matter. 
But do you see any stains there?” and he held out a 
shining, unsullied weapon for my inspection. 


172 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“Well, I swear!” ejaculated I, gazing at Teddy in 
blank astonishment. “What are you good for, any- 
way?” Why, I saw you cutting away at them like a 
fiend! And yet your saber is clean as can be!” 

“ Because I just whacked ’em over their backs with 
the flat of it,” he said, grinning. “Gad! It was fun 
to hear some of ’em yell, thinkin’ they were killed.” 

“And why didn’t you kill ’em? What do you think 
you’re here for? ” I burst out as he paused. 

“Sure, Jack, they were runnin’ away. I can’t hit a 
man in the back to do him hurt. If he’s fightin’ I’ll 
give him the best I can. But when he runs that’s the 
end of it, and he need have no fear of me ! ” 

“The devil that’s the end of it! ” I said in emphatic 
tones. “Every one of the brutes you might have 
rendered harmless is at present up there on the Cima- 
tario getting back into ranks as fast as possible, and 
in an hour or so we’ll have them on our hands again.” 

“Well, what of it? If the drubbin’ they’ve just had 
hasn’t taught them that we’re best left alone, it’s our- 
selves that can give them more of the same. Good- 
bye, now,” he continued, gathering his reins more 
firmly, “I’m going back to Mendez. I’ll wait for ye 
at dinner to-night in the Plaza de Armas, if ye 
say so.” 

The Liberal commander seemed loath to leave the 
field, and presently his beaten columns were observed 
to be moving slowly along the Cerro Cimatario, toward 
its western slope. The gate del Pueblito and the Casa 
Blanca were thus become the points of greatest im- 
portance, and Mendez lost no time in changing Salm- 
Salm’s ground. 

The enemy prepared for their attack with great 
deliberation, and while their columns formed, and the 
Generals rode through the lines to encourage the men, 
the cannon on both sides kept up a constant firing. 

A little before three o’clock in the afternoon the fire 
of their artillery was redoubled, and in two columns 
the infantry came down the slope in beautiful order 
and marched steadily toward the Casa Blanca. 

The advance of the white ranks was made with 
admirable courage, for though the guns from the 
Alameda and the gate del Pueblito crossed their fire 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


173 


and opened deep lanes among them as they came on, 
they closed up and strode steadily forward in silence, 
plainly intending to carry the position with the bayonet. 
Four thousand men were in the first column of attack, 
and the second, six thousand strong, followed in close 
support. 

The loss of the enemy under the cross-fire of shot 
and shell was heavy, but as they came within range of 
the canister, and that terrible hail swept through their 
ranks, they wavered — only for a moment, though. 
Their bent line straightened and surged on toward the 
Casa. To within two hundred paces of the barn they 
pressed on; then paused, as the men went down in 
heaps under the deadly file-firing of Salm-Salm’s in- 
fantry. Their shrieks as they fell, and the screams of 
their wounded, filled the air, but amid these cries the 
voices of the officers were heard as they forced their 
hesitating men onward. 

Dozens of them jumped out in front of the column, 
sword in hand, as cheered by their gallant conduct the 
soldiers broke into a double-quick. They had lost 
their formation now, but in a maddened, frenzied mob, 
wild with the lust for slaughter, they swarmed around 
the stone stable. 

General Arellano had sprung from his horse, and 
with his own hands trained a gun, heavily charged with 
canister, upon the crowding foeman. The execution 
done by this single piece at such close quarters was 
frightful. At the same time Salm-Salm’s reserve came 
'Up in their front, and the cavalry troop under Malburg 
swept around the house and attacked their left flank. 

The charge of Malburg’s horsemen was so fierce that 
their number was probably highly overestimated, and 
the Liberals, in panic, turned their backs. As they fled 
Colonel Madrigal, with the Second of the line, rushed 
from the Casa Blanca, and fell upon them with the 
bayonet. Then ensued a dreadful slaughter, for Salm- 
Salm’s men were merciless, and only stopped their 
pursuit when their flying foes were covered by a strong 
body of the Liberal cavalry. Some hundreds of pris- 
oners and a standard had been taken, and fifteen hun- 
dred Chinacos lay on the field. Behind the barn, in 
the front rank of the slain, lay the body of Colonel 


174 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Mercador, who headed the attack, together with the 
corpses of nine other officers. 

Disheartened by the losses they had suffered, the 
Liberal soldiers could not again be brought to charge, 
and the battle of the twenty-fourth of March was over. 
The artillery still thundered, but with sunset the fir 
ing stopped, and the Emperor, riding over the field, ' 
was greeted with wild cheers from our victorious 
troops. 

Released from duty, I rode straight to the cafe in 
the Plaza de Armas, where Teddy and I were to dine 
together. All of the places of amusement in the city were 
now closed, but the restaurants were always open, and 
this particular one was in great favor with the officers. 

The latest news of the siege could be had here, for 
men came to the cafe before they went on duty, and 
hastened there for refreshment after their return from 
the lines. 

The eating-room was already crowded ; but Teddy 
had preceded me, and, in company with another officer, 
was at table. A chair had been kept for me, and I was 
quick to occupy it. 

“Ye’re in the nick of time, Jack,” Callahan said, as 
I sat down. “The dinner will be served in a jiffy. 
But let me make known to ye the Captain Vallonga. 
Vallonga, allow me to present the Major Bellhurst.” 

“ I am no stranger to the reputation for valor the 
Major Bellhurst already enjoys, brief though his ser- 
vice with his Imperial majesty has been,” the captain 
said in a pleasant voice as I bowed. “I hope that the 
acquaintance now begun may be closer in the future.” 

“You overwhelm me, senor,” I responded, but Teddy 
interrupted the polite speech I was going on to make. 

“To the divil with all your compliments! ” he said, 
testily. “ Vallonga’s a good fellow clear through, I’ll 
swear to that. Jack, and ye’ll be the best of friends in 
no time. He belongs to Miramon’s staff, and did me a 
mighty good turn yesterday when I was sent with a com- 
munication to his general. If it hadn’t been for him I 
believe I’d be cooling my heels in the waiting-room yet, 
for ye know how much Miramonand Mendez love each 
others. Here comes the grub, so fall on and we’ll talk 
later. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


175 


Neither the Captain Vallonga nor myself needed 
pressing, and we attacked the viands manfully. Pro- 
visions were still plentiful in Queretaro, and the meal 
was passably good. Wine there was in abundance, 
and under the reaction of the excitement of the day I 
drank freely, as did Callahan also. Vallonga, too, was 
not sparing in his potations,-though in comparison with 
Teddy and myself he drank moderately. 

As the course of the meal progressed, I covertly 
studied the appearance and manner of this new ac- 
quaintance. There was no doubt that the Captain 
Joaquin Vallonga was a singularly handsome man. He 
was fully as tall as I, and of muscular and athletic 
build. Though a Mexican, with the dark hair and 
eyes of the race, he had a clear white complexion. 
Faint dark circles under his eyes, evidently traces of 
dissipation, only seemed to enhance their beauty. His 
features were as clear cut as those of a cameo. His 
mouth was determined, but winning in its expression. 
Upon his upper lip he wore a small black moustache, 
carefully trained, the ends pointing upward. The 
strong chin and broad, powerful jaw were clean shaven. 
His uniform of a staff officer was of the best cut and 
materials, and fitted him to perfection. Upon the 
fingers ot his beautifully kept white hands sparkled 
several costly rings. 

The Captain’s conversation was polished and enter- 
taining, and after the first pangs of hunger were satis- 
fied, and we went on with our repast more leisurely, 
he told several stories in an engaging, refined style, 
but with a wit that made Teddy and myself roar with 
laughter. By the time coffee and cigars were served 
I agreed with Callahan that Vallonga was a rare good 
fellow. 

A glance around the well-filled tables showed me 
many faces that were familiar. In one corner of the 
room was Mejia, and opposite him was seated the 
plump little form of General Mendez, his handsome 
face half covered by a dark brown beard, and his eyes 
sparkling for an instant with hate as they rested on the 
elegant figure of General Miramon, who was leaving 
the room. Beyond them was General Don Severo 
Castillo, pallid and meager from long ill-health, his long, 


1^6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


black hair falling around his thin face. He was bend- 
ing forward with his hand to his ear, that the deafness 
from which he was a sufferer might not prevent his 
catching the remarks of his neighbor, the stalwart and 
soldierly looking Prince Salm-Salm. The fat Major 
Pitner, who now commanded the battalion of the Caza- 
dores, was vigorously engaged at his dinner, having 
evidently just arrived. 

A tall, portly man, some years over thirty, wearing a 
gorgeously braided hussar uniform of red and black, 
paused in his way toward the door and laid his hand on 
Vallonga’s shoulder. Several Mexican orders adorned 
the breast of his coat, and there also hung the officer’s 
cross of the French Legion of Honor. As I knew 
that few in Queretaro enjoyed that distinction, I was 
curious to know who this officer could be. 

“Still at table, Vallonga!” he said with a smile. 
“What will the fair Chilean think of your tardiness ? 
Or aren’t you going there to-night ?” 

“Without doubt I will be there. Colonel,” our 
friend replied in his mellow tones. “Of course we 
shall meet at the Temple of Fortune, as usual?” 

“I am going there now,” the colonel answered, 
moving on. “What shall I say to the lovely 
Isidora, should she question me as to your where- 
abouts? ” 

“Tell her that I hope to pay my respects within the 
course of the evening, and enlarge her acquaintance 
by presenting two of my friends, ” Captain Vallonga 
called after him. 

“Who is that officer?” I asked Vallonga, as he 
turned smilingly to resume his interrupted conversation 
with Teddy and myself. 

“ What, don’t you know him? ” the captain asked in 
an astonished tone. “I thought every man in the 
army was familiar with his face. He’s Colonel Lopez, 
late commander of the regiment Empress, and now in 
charge of the Cruz.” 

“The colonel just now reminded me that I have an 
engagement for this evening,” Vallonga went on after 
he had lighted a fresh cigarette, “at the house of a 
very agreeable lady who lives in the Calle Miraflores. 
If you will do me the honor to join me, caballeros^ I 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


177 


warrant you that you will pass the time more pleasantly 
than here or at your quarters.” 

“ Who is the lady you purpose visiting?” I asked 
with listless curiosity, “and what sort of amuse- 
ment will we find, if we go along with you?” 

“ The lady, the Countess Isidora de Montauran, is a 
Chilean by birth, and claims to be the widow of a French 
officer who left her a large fortune. She certainly 
entertains in very good style. She came to Quer^taro 
on purpose to obtain some mining grants from the 
Emperor, and was prevented from leaving by the 
arrival of the Chinacos. As for what goes on at her 
house, she’s no prude, and the company are at liberty 
to divert themselves as they will. There’s generally a 
faro-table, one or other of us taking the bank. Oryou 
can play at monte or baccarat if you wish, you’ll always 
find antagonists. If you don’t care for cards, the 
countess and several ladies, who are dear friends of 
hers, remain to chat with you, sing for you; I’ve even 
seen some devilish good dancing there. You can 
have all the wine you wish, and the supper is always 
first-class.” 

“That sounds very touching,” was my comment. 
“We might as well put in the evening there as else- 
where, eh, Callahan?’* 

Teddy was willing, and lighting fresh cigars we fol- 
lowed the captain out of the cafe. 


CHAPTER XX. 

AT THE HOUSE OF THE CHILEAN COUNTESS. 

The house in the Calle Miraflores, occupied for the 
time by the Countess de Montauran, was large and ini- 
posing, in keeping with the reputed wealth of its fair 
tenant. No sign of life within was visible from the 
street, a high wall screening the lower part of the 
building from view. 

Vallonga rang the bell of the porter’s lodge, and the 
man drew the cord promptly at his summons. As we 


178 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


crossed a small paved courtyard we could see that 
the rooms on the ground floor were brilliantly lighted. 
In a spacious and elegantly furnished hallway a 
swarthy Mexican in spotless livery relieved us of our 
caps and sabers, and with the captain for a guide we 
entered the salon of the Countess. 

“ The lovely Isidora,” as Colonel Lopez had called 
her, received her guests in a large drawing-room that 
occupied nearly the whole front of her house. Behind 
this parlor a second one extended, and through its open 
windows could be faintly seen the tropical plants of 
the garden. The rooms were of good size, the ceil- 
ings higher than is usual in Mexican dwellings. All 
the furnishings spoke either of unlimited wealth or 
reckless extravagance. Numerous paintings covered 
the walls, which blazed with gilding from floor to ceil- 
ing. The latter was painted to imitate the sky, with 
stars and mythological divinities crowding its surface. 
In the center of each room hung a huge chandelier, the 
rays of its many wax lights flashing back from countless 
glass pendants. The chairs and sofas were uphol- 
stered in flower-worked satin, and their wood was 
heavily gilded. A large rosewood piano stood in one 
corner, and upon it lay several guitars and mandolins, 
adorned with gay-colored ribbons. Rich Turkey car- 
pets, into which the feet seemed to sink, covered the 
floors. In the second room there was a large green- 
covered table and several small ones, the seats about 
all well filled. 

The guests of the countess numbered probably thirty 
persons, I observed, and were mostly of the male sex, 
though here and there in the groups about the card 
tables the eye rested on a female form. The army was 
in the majority, only three civilians present, their 
white shirt fronts and correct evening clothes marking 
them among their uniformed brethren. These last 
were from every branch of the service. Officers of the 
staff, of the artillery, of the cavalry, of the infantry- 
even several chiefs of the guerrillas favorable to the 
Imperial cause, had come to pay their respects to the 
Countess Isidora Montauran. 

The hostess stood at the end of the first drawing- 
room, near the piano, supported by three other 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


179 


ladies, and Vallonga at once led us up and pre 
sented us. Though no longer in the first flush of 
youth, the Countess was still a very beautiful woman. 
She had bold, almost masculine features, flashing dark 
eyes, and a full-lipped, sensuous mouth. Her neck was 
white and rounded, and her low-cut dress generously 
displayed the handsome proportions of her ample 
bosom. The robe itself was of a peculiar shade of 
green, covered with a network of gold, that made the 
whole effect remind me of the glittering skin of a rare 
African snake I had seen years before at Marseilles. 
Large diamonds flashed in her ears, a clasp of the same 
precious stones secured a red rose amid the coils of her 
heavy black hair, her hands were laden with costly 
rings. 

“ I am rejoiced to welcome the Major Bellhurst, ” 
she said, in a musical voice. “Although this is the 
first time I have seen him here, I trust it will not be 
the last. Do you know the Senora Campos ? Con- 
suelo, my love, leave your conversation with the Lieu- 
tenant Forgoza for an instant, and acknowledge the 
obeisance of the Major Bellhurst.” 

The Senora Campos gave me a swift flash of her 
dark eyes as I bent before her and then returned to 
her lieutenant. 

“ Vallonga and your friend are monopolizing Senoras 
Rosales and Mina,” the Countess went on, “and I 
won’t interrupt them. You see you are left to my 
tender mercies, Senor Bellhurst, unless you wish to 
join the votaries of Fortune in the next room.” 

“ You could not find a more willing captive. Count- 
ess, if you will suffer me to remain at your side,” I 
answered, gallantly. “Before the prospect of conver- 
sation with beauty and talent the charms of the god- 
dess Fortune are as naught.” 

“Flatterer!” the lady returned, with a swift side 
glance of her lustrous eyes that took away the reproof 
from her epithet. “If you wish to talk with me there 
is a sofa yonder. I have been standing for some time 
and I begin to feel fatigue.” 

“So you don’t care for the cards?” the Countess 
began as I established myself close to her on the soft 
cushions. “I am glad of it. Though I allow my 


l8o A PASSING EMPEROR. 

guests to amuse themselves as they will, I detest 
gambling. I shun the fatal fascination of the gaming- 
table, and warn all my friends who will listen to me 
to do the same. ” 

“The same threadbare old fairy tale,” was my men- 
tal comment. Young as I was, in the life I had led 
abroad I had met ladies like the countess before. 

“But if you are not a worshiper of Chance, what 
is your peculiar passion, Senor Bellhurst? ” the Count- 
ess went on, “At your age one must have pleasure, 
and is apt to pursue it eagerly. How do you find 
yours? Framed as you are, and possessing a face such 
as you have, I would wager that either love or war 
would find you an ardent votary. Which of the two 
has most of your thoughts?” 

“Since my coming to Mexico I have been anxious 
for a chance to lead the active life of a soldier,” I re- 
plied, “and late events have gratified my wishes and 
given me the excitement for which I craved. As for 
love, I had sworn to sternly banish the little god from 
my heart. But who can shape or control the bent of 
his passions? When I left the field of battle at the Casa 
Blanca this evening at sunset my mind was free and 
unfettered. But now — pardon me, I dare not speak 
more plainly.” 

“ So you were one of those who repelled that ter- 
rible assault to-day?” the Countess said, ignoring my 
last words. “I am told that the Chinacos fought 
most bravely.” 

‘ ‘ They did better than they’ve done yet, ” 1 answered 
with a laugh, “but they’re far from being strong 
enough to march into Queretaro. ” 

“Dear me, I hope so, indeed.” The lady gave a 
little nervous shiver at the thought of a Liberal seizure 
of the city. “But there seem to be a great many of 
them outside the town. Some one told me that they 
have forty thousand men, while all our troops together 
number scarce seven thousand.” 

“Indeed,” I said, politely, the thought striking me 
that the Countess was well informed. 

“You area staff-officer I see from your uniform, 
Major Bellhurst,” proceeded the Chilean lady in hon- 
eyed accents. ‘ ‘ Does General Miramon have the good 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


l8l 


fortune to number you among his military family?” 

“ I have not the honor to be on the staff of General 
Miramon.” 

“Ah, seeing you come in with Vallonga I imagined 
you to be one of his brother aids. On whose staff do 
you serve ? ” 

“I am at present an aid to General Mejia.” 

“You are ? How strange! Do you know, you are 
the only one of General Mejia’s officers whom I know. 
Of course I have some friends among the line officers 
in the cavalry, but not one of the staff has ever been 
here before. I count myself fortunate in knowing you, 
Senor Bellhurst, for between you and me I adore Gen- 
eral Mejia, He is so grandly brave, and so modest 
with it all.” 

“ Can you not extend some of your good-will to the 
General’s aid. Countess?” I murmured in imploring 
tones. “He needs it far more than his General.” 

“Silly boy!” she laughed, letting her voice sink. 
“ Do you think to befool an old woman like me in this 
way?” And a smile of invitation beamed upon her 
beautiful face. 

“You have too many mirrors here for me to need 
reply. They can tell you what I would say of you 
better than I.” 

“Neatly turned. You are no novice at all events, 
cahallero. But we were speaking of General Mejia. 
What does he think of the Emperor’s situation?” she 
asked. Despite her careless tone, I fancied that there 
was a flash of eager expectation in her eyes. 

I had put away considerable wine at dinner. But I 
was not tipsy, and I knew that what Pap Tomasito 
might think of affairs was no business of the Countess. 
I therefore told my fair hostess that she might be per- 
fectly tranquil, for the general was sure that we must 
conquer. It wasn’t true, but my duty forbade me to 
speak the truth, and so I lied. 

“ I am so relieved, ’’ the Countess Isidora assured 
me when I ceased my manufactured review of Mejia’s 
opinion on the state of the war. “ I put full reliance 
in the general, and if he says we shall win I know that 
all is well.” 

“ Can you doubt that a cause in which your sympa- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


182 


thies are enlisted can fail? For you are an Imperialist, 
are you not, dear lady? ” I questioned. 

“Of course I belong to the Emperor’s party. My 
prayers are offered daily for his success. How could 
you think otherwise? Is not my presence here in 
Queretaro a proof of my loyalty? Though I myself 
would not suffer by Maximilian’s overthrow, nay, might 
be even the richer for it, I would give every peso 1 
possess sooner than see it come to pass.” 

“Exactly the way I feel about it, Countess,” I said 
heartily. “ Though I’m not a Croesus all I have is at 
the Emperor’s service.” 

“Then you are not a rich man. Major Bellhurst? ” 
The tone was inquiring. 

“A mere soldier of Fortune, my dear lady, nothing 
more. I live by my sword now, and all my hopes of 
wealth are in the Emperor’s keeping the throne.” 

“Then let me give you some advice, ’’the lady said 
earnestly. “ If you cannot afford to lose much money 
don’t engage in play with Vallonga. I mean nothing 
to his discredit; he is a charming fellow and one of 
my dearest friends. But he has phenomenal luck. So 
promise me that you won’t gamble with him.” 

“I can’t promise you that, my kind friend, fori 
may call you my friend, may I not? ” As she bowed 
assent, I went on. “ I have sufficient skill at most 
games to hold my own, and luck is no stranger to me. 
Therefore if Captain Vallonga and I chance to be op- 
ponents, I scarce think either will have much advan- 
tage. Still, thank you for warning me all the same.” 
I raised her hand to my lips. 

“ Stop, Senor! You will be seen,” she said hurriedly, 
but as I released her fingers she pressed mine warmly 
before letting go her hold on my hand. “ Come and 
see me to-morrow if you can. At what hour will you 
be at liberty? ” 

“That is very hard to say,” I remarked thought- 
fully. “ It depends so much on the movements of our 
friends the Chinacos.” 

“ Will you come if you can? ” Her accents were 
searching, her eyes were trying to read my face. 

“If I am able, be assured, but I can’t control the 
time.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


183 


“Then come at any hour before seven in the even- 
ing, and I will be at home to you alone. It is a 
promise, I will see no one but you to-morrow. If you 
can spend the entire day with me, do so; I ask you to. 
Now. we have talked together so long that it may 
excite comment. I am going to sing for you.” She 
made her way to the piano. 

The Senora Campos, hearing her touch the keys, 
clapped her hands and hastened to pick up one of the 
mandolins to accompany her. The song of the Countess 
was one of the passionate love-plaints one hears so 
often in Mexico, shrieked out perchance in a cracked 
voice by a street musician to the accompaniment of a 
wretched old guitar. The words of these songs are all 
of the same order. I had probably heard this one a 
dozen times, but never so sung as that night. Her 
voice was deep and powerful, and as she sang the last 
verse her eyes met mine and held them, and a subtle, 
caressing tone in her song made me remember the 
words : 

“ The balmy breezes fan our cheeks, 

The fire-flies on the air are wheeling, 

An o’er our minds and bodies, love. 

The languorous spell of love is stealing. 

Then fold me, dear one, in thine arms. 

And let our long and burning kiss 
Cause all the world beside to be 
Forgot, save love, and love’s mad bliss.” 

As she ceased she dropped her eyes, but not before 
I had read a world of promise in them. 

As Vallonga had predicted, an excellent supper was 
served in the course of the evening, and the guests of 
the Countess were free to fill themselves with wine, 
which was constantly being offered by the silent, ob- 
servant servants. 

The Senora Mina, under the exhilarating feeling 
produced by champagne, was so kind as to dance the 
Spanish cachuca, to the music of guitars and mando- 
lins. I am very fond of good dancing, and was an 
ardent abettor of this part of the evening’s entertain- 
ment. So it was only after the senora had sunk ex- 
hausted on a sofa and refused to be encored any more 
that I let Vallonga lead me into the next room, where 
he had made up a party for a game of poker. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


1S4 

We were five at the table, Teddy, Vallonga, Colonel 
Lopez, his friend Lieut. -Colonel Jablonski, and myself. 
Callahan and I were no novices at the “great Ameri- 
can game,” and we found that our companions had 
also played it before. We kept two packs of cards 
going, so that the game was rapid, and at times the 
betting rose quite high. Most of the heavy wagers 
were made by Teddy, Colonel Lopez, and myself. 
Vallonga and Jablonski were either cautious or held 
poor cards during the entire game. 

Between two and three o’clock in the morning the 
party of the Countess Isadora broke up, and we filed 
down the street to our quarters. Vallonga’s route lay 
in the same direction as ours for a short distance, and 
we went along together, chatting pleasantly. As we 
bade him good-night both Teddy and myself thanked 
him warmly for a pleasant evening. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

THE LEMONADE-SELLER OF THE ALAMEDA. 

“ Not the best of company that you were in last 
evening, hijo General Mejia said as he leaned 

back in his chair and sent a puff of cigarette smoke 
through his wide nostrils. 

It was eight o’clock next morning, and I was about 
to leave the General’s quarters to carry the morning’s 
reports to the Cruz. 

“ The Capitan Callahan is my dearest friend. Gen- 
eral,” I said, in somewhat astonished tones, “and 
we naturally see as much of each other as we can.” 

“It is not to the Captain Callahan that I refer,” 
Mejia replied, waving his cigarette in the air before him. 
“ When I spoke of your being in bad company, or per- 
haps I should say merely doubtful company, I meant 
the Captain Vallonga. Have you known him long? ” 

“ I met him for the first time last evening. General” 
I responded. “ My friend, to whom the Captain Val- 
longa had shown some kindness at General Miramon’s 
headquartrrs, introduced us.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 1 85 

‘ And what did you think of your new acquaint- 

ctiice ? ” 

“Oh, I found him an entertaining person with a 
good appetite and an evident appreciation of the things 
in life most worth having,” I answered, lightly. 

“ Did you play with him during the evening ? ” my 
commander questioned dryly. 

“ We did have a quiet little game of poker after we 
left the caf^,” I admitted. 

“At the Countess Montauran’s, eh ? ” There was no 
describing the peculiar expression of half-sarcastic 
mirth that was stamped on Pap Tomasito’s mouth as 
he put the question. “ He took you there, I’m willing 
to bet three to one.” 

“ I won’t bet this time, General, ” I said with a smile, 
“Yes, Vallonga was good enough to take us with him 
to the Countess’s soiree, and we enjoyed ourselves 
there very much.” 

“I thought as much,” the General muttered. 
“What sort of a woman is the Countess Montauran ? 
I mean, what impression did she make on you ? ” 

“You wish to know what I think of the Countess, 
General ? ” I asked slowly. 

“Yes, hijo mio^ that is what I ask you.” 

“It is too soon for me to venture an opinion,” I re- 
turned. “The Countess was profuse in her hospitality, 
and learning that I had the good fortune to be on your 
Excellency’s staff, spared no pains to make my evening 
pass pleasantly. She has a great admiration for you. 
General.” 

“All the women have,” Pap Tomasito said as he 
grinned like a little yellow demon. “And why should 
they not ? Is there another man in Mexico so hand- 
some as myself ? But seriously, my boy, I wish to say 
a few words to you about this Captain Vallonga. 
Mind, I know no positive ill of him, but nevertheless 
he is far from a safe person to have for a friend. He is 
an inveterate gambler, and generally wins.” (I smiled 
as Mejia spoke of the Captain’s gambling propensities, 
and the General was quick to divine my thought). 
“Oh! I am not trying to play the padre! I acknowl- 
edge that I love a game for a stake of any kind, as all 
Indians do. But I do not always gain. Another thing. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I 86 

Vallonga is a notorious duelist. He has fought with 
fatal results several times, and the disputes all arose 
at the card table. The last affair cost the life of a 
haciendado at Orizaba. A splendid fellow, and Vallonga 
killed him, one might almost say, in cold blood. For 
he is a skilled fencer, probably the best in Mexico.” 

“ I don’t propose to fight with the Captain, I assure 
you. General,” I answered, as he paused. “We are 
on the best of terms, and there can be no cause 
for quarrel between us. ” 

“I see that you fancy the man, and I will say no 
more, ” Pap Tomasito replied. ‘ ‘ Act as you wish about 
frequenting his society. You have had all the warn- 
ing*you need. Only I wish you to be careful in one 
particular. You know that General Mendez and I are 
intimate, and that he frequently visits me. Take care 
that you never repeat anything he may chance to say 
of General Miramon in the presence of Captain Val- 
longa. For he is one of Miramon’s most trusted aids, 
and, though I say it with sorrow, Mexico is a land 
where treachery thrives.” 

“You might have spared me that last injunction. 
General,” I answered, flushing. “If you feel that I 
cannot be trusted, the sooner I go back to my regi- 
ment the better.” 

“ I need not have said it, hijo mio^ and I regret my 
words,” Pap Tomasito said kindly, rising, and laying 
his hand on my shoulder. “Forget them; I ask it 
as a favor. As to going back to the line, you must 
not think of such a thing. For I like you, Juan, and 
I wish that I had had you with me during the past five 
years. For Dios! You’d have worn general’s epau- 
lettes by this time ! You may wear them yet, don’t 
despair, if we once get out of this cursed hole of a 
town.” 

“ You are not sure of our winning, then, as matters 
stand now. General ?” 1 ventured. 

Quien sabef" He shrugged his shoulders care- 
lessly. “God rules the war, and we are all in His 
hands. After you have left the reports at the Cruz 
you need not return until evening. I shall not want 
you until about eight o’clock. As I have some work for 
you then that will probably keep you busy for the 


A PASSING EMPEROk. 187 

greater part of the night, you had better get some 
sleep to-day. ” 

This was evidently a hint to begone, so I hastened 
to headquarters with my papers. 

These delivered to General Castillo, I turned my 
horse’s head toward the Calle Miraflores and soon dis- 
mounted at the door of the Countess Isidora. 

My object in seeking the society of this lady I will 
frankly admit. The love I had begun to feel for Alys 
Rowell was the highest, noblest passion I had ever 
known. In her presence I had been hesitating and 
timid to the verge of bashfulness, thinking of her with 
the utmost veneration. She had seemed so far supe- 
rior to myself that I had not dared to tell her of my 
passion. The loyal way in which she had declared 
her friendship for me, in the face of her uncle’s disap- 
proval, had made me her devoted slave. Worshiping 
her as I did, and knowing that her feelings were at 
the least kindly toward me, the abrupt and contempt- 
uous manner in which she had broken off our friend- 
ship had left me at first stunned and bewildered. To 
this helpless feeling of pained wonder had succeeded 
a determination to have no more serious thoughts of 
her sex. The budding honors of a successful career 
in the profession of arms were mine, and I had re- 
solved to turn all my thoughts to augmenting the rep- 
utation I had already established. 

Women, I swore, were to be in future merely the 
idle toys of the moment. The opportunities that 
chance might throw in my way I decided to take as 
they came, and enjoy to the utmost the goods that the 
gods might provide. The manner of the Countess 
on the evening before had been encouraging, and I 
was disposed to believe that an intrigue with the 
voluptuous Chilean would be easy of accomplishment. 
My plan, then, was to follow up the hint she had given 
me, to become her constant attendant and to derive 
all the pleasure and amusement I could from her 
society. 

Though the hour was so early, I had not waited for 
many moments in the drawing-room before the portiere 
that hung before the door leading into the apartment 
where Chance reared her altar was pushed aside by 


A PASSING emperor. 


l8S 

fair fingers, and the lady entered. I had thought to be 
bold, to clasp her in ray arras at once the moment she 
appeared. But as she* came toward me, and I sprang 
to my feet to carry out my purpose, a pair of blue 
eyes looking wistfully out of a white face framed in a 
mass of golden hair seemed to rise in the air before 
me, and I stood still, overcome by a sudden revulsion 
of feeling. 

“ How good of you to come so early! "the Countess 
said, as she took my hand in both her own. “I was 
sure that you would be here the first moment that of- 
fered, but I dared not hope for such pleasure as this. 
But you are pale, Senor^ and seem to be suffering. I 
trust that the gayety of last night was not too much 
for you.” 

We sat down together on the sofa, while I stammered 
something about a sudden feeling of giddiness. 

“ Poor fellow! you are not used to our climate yet. 
It is trying to those born under a northern sky, and 
they are slow to grow accustomed to our tropical tem- 
perature. A glass of brandy will do you a world of 
good.” 

The lady vanished, returning in a few moments with 
a stiff glass of eau de vie. I disposed of the drink 
without ceremony, and my emotion speedily passed 
away. Isidora seated herself once more by my side, 
and the conversation that followed soon was turned 
into a confidential channel. She told me much of her 
history, but whether or not her account of her life had 
much truth in it I do not know. On my side I frankly 
gave her the main events of my life. Many times 
during our chat I saw opportunities for a tender scene, 
but on each approach of my arm to her slender waist 
the vision of those beseeching eyes would come between 
us, and somehow I would be forced to draw back. 

I spent the entire day with Isidora, and when I left 
late in the afternoon we were on the most friendly 
terms. I promised to come to her house as often as I 
could. But as I rode away I cursed myself for a hesi- 
tating fool, for my visit had not been conducted in ac- 
cordance with the way I had planned beforehand. 

On reporting for duty in the evening I learned that 
a night attack upon the Liberals had been in contem- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


1S9 

plation, but that the idea had been abandoned. Gen- 
eral Mejia therefore soo i dismissed me, and I passed 
the evening as I had the previous one, in the Calle 
Miraflores. 

During the next few days the Countess Isidora 
aided me to kill time, and I was invariably a member 
of the nightly gatherings at her house. 'I'he intimacy 
between Vallonga and myself ripened fast into friend- 
ship and we saw a great deal of each other. Vallonga 
played like a gentleman, winning or losing with perfect 
indifference, and the closest scrutiny failed to find 
any evidence that he aided the decrees of the cards by 
unfair means. Besides he was a winning and amusing 
companion, and in his company one never was 
bored. 

Either Teddy or Vallonga usually accompanied me 
in my calls at the house in the Calle Miraflores. But 
one afternoon, the thirty-first of March was the day, 
as I was returning from carrying some papers to Gen- 
eral Miramon, I thought that I would stop and have a 
moment’s chat with the charming Isidora. 

The patio was open, and I did not check my horse. 
So as I dashed into the courtyard I almost rode over 
a singular-appearing individual, who was about to take 
his leave. 

He was an old, wrinkled Mexican, swathed in a 
serape, and was bent almost double, leaning on a long 
cane as he walked. The stick was twice as high as 
the man, and his skinny hands grasped it near the 
middle. On his back a huge jar was strapped, and 
further secured by a leathern band that crossed his fore- 
head. His head was bare, and long, straight white locks 
of hair fell over his face and upon his shoulders. His 
bent position kept his countenance directed toward the 
ground, and I should not have had a good look at his 
visage had he not raised his head, as he recoiled before 
my charger, to utter a curse at my stupidity. It was a 
face not soon to be forgotten. The features had been 
handsome, but were now sunken and seamed with 
numberless wrinkles. The mouth still held strong, 
white teeth, though, and its expression was peculiarly 
malicious and cruel. Under the snowy eyebrows two 
blazing eyeballs flashed his anger as a venomous 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


190 

'■"Chinga!'" at my carelessness was hissed between his 
lips. 

I only laughed in reply to the old fellow’s curse, 
and, throwing him a coin, rode past him and dis- 
mounted before the stone steps. One of the servants, 
leaning carelessly against the doorway, had seen the 
whole affair, and he grinned as I asked him if his mis- 
tress were at home. 

‘ ' You just missed breaking a precious old rascal’s 
neck that time, Senor Bellhurst,” the man remarked 
as he paused a moment before departing in search of 
the Countess. 

“ Indeed. You know him then, Marcos? Who is 
he?” I questioned idly. 

“ He’s Pedillo, the lemonade-seller of the Alameda, 
and they say he was once one of the cleverest brigands 
in Mexico. Quien sabe ? ” 

“ The lemonade-seller of the Alameda!” I muttered, 
as Marcos ushered me into the salon. “ Where the 
devil have I heard of him before ? By Jove! ’Tisthe 
name Baraja gave me, the man through whom I could 
send him any message. What the deuce can an asso- 
ciate of the wily Fabian have in common with the 
Countess Isidora ? ” 

The appearance of Vallonga advancing to meet me 
cut short my soliloquy. 

“Well met, my dear Juan,” he said, as he came 
forward. “I was just about to leave here for the 
purpose of spending an hour with you and Callahan. 
I’ve been awaiting the coming of the Countess for the 
last twenty minutes, and her maid has just brought 
word that Isidora has the headache and will see no 
visitors. So you may as well let me go along with 
you. We’ll get the boy Teddy, and after a promenade 
I want you both to dine with me.” 

“All right, Joaquin, I’m agreed. But I saw no 
other horse in the courtyard. Did you come on foot ? ” 

“ Why, yes. I’ve been off duty for most of the day, 
and thought I’d prefer walking to the trouble of wait- 
ing to have a horse saddled. You are riding, are you ? 
Then you’d better go on before me; doubtless you’ve 
some message for Pap Tomasito, anyway. When 
you’re at liberty you’ll find me at your quarters.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I9I 

“All right. By the way, Joaquin,” I continued as 
we went down the steps together, “ you’re pretty well 
acquainted in Queretaro, aren’t you ? You’ve been 
here before the siege ? ” 

“Several times. I know the town pretty thoroughly, 
I flatter myself, and if you want any information 
I’m your man. What is it ? ” 

“ Have you ever heard of a certain Pedillo, called 
‘the lemonade-seller’?” 

“ Of course. He’s a well-known character. You 
can see him and buy a drink from him any day on 
the Alameda. Are you going to speculate in lem- 
onade, Juan ? Don’t do it. Mescal or aguadiente 
have a better sale at present.” 

“What sort of a man is this Pedillo ? Tell me any- 
thing you know of him ? ” I persisted. 

“Why, he’s a harmless sort of old fellow; a seller of 
cooling drinks and sweetmeats; and, so far as I know, 
has a reputation for being perfectly honest and loyal 
to our party. Why do you ask ? ” 

“ Oh, for no particular reason. I heard the name, 
and it rather struck my fancy, that’s all. Good-by,” 
I went on, as I sprang into my saddle, and gathered 
up the reins. “ I’ll meet you at my rooms as soon as 
possible. If I can’t get there before dinner I’ll see 
you at the cafe.” 

Adfos/* replied the Captain, with a wave of the 
hand, as I cantered through the gate and down the 
street. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

A WARNING FROM THE SENORA INEZ. 

Before daylight on the first of April the crash of 
guns was heard from the San Gregorio. As the firing 
of cannon was of daily occurrence, the noise did not 
make me leave my bed. However, the swift rattle of 
rifles filled the air, and the close and continuous vol- 
leys betokened something out of the common. I hur- 
ried on my clothes, and made haste to join my com- 


192 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


mander. But the services of the cavalry were not 
required. 

By direction of General Miramon, Prince Salm-Salm 
had made a sally against San Gregorio with the Caza- 
dores, the Rodriguez battalion of the municipal guards, 
and fifty men of the battalion of Celaya. His instruc- 
tions were to capture the two Liberal batteries there, 
and then to sweep the ridge. Miramon was to sup- 
port him with a brigade, and another brigade was to 
expel the enemy from the suburb San Luis. 

The German Prince, always magnificent in action, 
stormed the hill and the chapel San Trinidad, forcing 
the enemy to fly in confusion, and capturing two guns, 
with their horses and ammunition. 

The supporting force promised him did not move, 
however, and the gallant Salm-Salm, trying neverthe- 
less to carry out his orders, and “sweep the ridge,” 
was attacked by vastly superior numbers, and driven 
down the hill to the chapel de la Cruz del Cerro. 
General Miramon made no advance to his aid. The 
Liberal infantry from the suburb closed upon his rear, 
and called to him to surrender. 

In the face of this danger the German never wav- 
ered, but marched across San Luis, sword in hand, 
at the head of his men, and won a bloody passage to 
the bridge through the hostile ranks. 

For a week the siege went on without any important 
happening, the enemy occasionally bombarding the 
city and our artillery answering the fire, though am- 
munition was beginning to run low in Queretaro. 
Provisions, too, were getting scarce, and those best 
acquainted with the state of affairs admitted that the 
army was in a serious position. 

General Marquez had sworn to return by the fifth of 
April, but the fifth of April went by and there was no 
sign of his coming. On the eighth hope rose high, 
for the lookouts on the Cruz observed strong bodies 
of the Liberal troops marching over Cuesta China in 
the direction of Celaya. Whatever their object, it was 
not to oppose the approach of a relieving force. And 
we settled back to our dogged defense. 

General Castillo, unwearied in his efforts to feed 
the army, discovered some concealed magazines of 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


193 


provisions in the town. All the brimstone and salt- 
peter in the city was confiscated by General Arellano, 
who carried on the manufacture of ammunition with 
great skill. The leaden roof of the theater was 
molded into bullets, and the bells of the numerous 
churches were cast into cannon-balls. On the eleventh 
of April General Miramon directed a second sally, 
this time against the' Garita de Mexico. As usual, 
Salm-Salm’s troops headed the column. 

But the attack resulted in nothing, save putting 
hors de co?nbat the brave Major Pitner, who fell des- 
perately wounded at the head of his gallant Cazadores. 

During this time General Mejia had fallen ill, and was 
unable to mount his horse. He still paid close atten- 
tion to the care of his men, and my duties as a staff- 
officer were in no way lightened. For the rest, my 
life went on as before. I was constant in my calls on 
the Countess, and nightly the battle of baccarat was 
fought by Vallonga and myself. 

On the seventeenth of April I was by Mejia’s bedside 
as usual, waiting for the evening orders. 

“You will go to Colonels Gonzales and De la Cruz, ” 
Pap Tomasito said as he finished the instructions for 
the day. “ Bid them have the regiment Empress and 
the fourth regiment at the Cerro de la Campana by 
eleven o’clock to-night. An attempt is to be made, 
Juan,” he went on confidentially, “to cut through 
Escobedo’s lines and send a force to find out what has 
become of Marquez. The Emperor would have had 
me lead it, but I am flat on this cursed bed, so Salm- 
Salm is the man he has chosen. Had I been able to 
go I would have taken you with me, and now I wish 
you to have the chance all the same. I have spoken 
to the Prince in your behalf and if you wish to volun- 
teer he will gladly take you with him. Many a man 
would be glad of the opportunity to get out of 
Queretaro.” 

“ I’m very thankful for your offer. General,” I said. 
“ If you were able to go, of course my duty would have 
been'to follow you. As matters stand I’d much rather 
remain in the city and share the fortune of the Em- 
peror.” 

“I thought so, hijo mio," he said, pressing my hand. 


194 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ I told the Prince he must not count on you, for I 
thought you would not leave your General.” 

The moon shone clear that night as I rode to the 
Cerro de la Campana, where I was to observe the suc- 
cess of Salm-Salm’s attempt and report the same to the 
General. In and about a tent upon the hill were 
General Miramon, General Moret, Colonel Gonzales, 
Colonel de la Cruz, Prince Salm-Salm, and a number of 
staff officers. I recognized Vallonga among them, and 
riding up to him asked in a low voice how things were 
progressing. 

“They’ll start directly,” the Captain declared. 
“ General Moret is to take the advance with his Mexi- 
cans, and the hussars will follow. The fourth regi- 
ment will guard the left flank and the regiment Em- 
press covers the rear. I’ll bet you a hundred pesos to 
eighty that they don’t get through ! ” 

“Your bet is pretty safe. But it Salm-Salm were 
to have the head of the column, I’d take it. Why the 
deuce does he let Moret go first?” 

“ Don Pantaleon’s men are old guerilleros, and know 
the country. Besides, he’s a friend of General Mira- 
mon’s, and the General has planned everything.” 

“Humph !” I grunted. 

“ Your tone is expressive, to say the least,” Val- 
longa laughed. 

“Don’t say anything, I beg of you, Juan; remember 
I’m on General Miramon’s staff. ” 

At that moment Miramon and Salm-Salm emerged 
from the tent. The chief of the infantry threw his 
arms around the Prince’s neck, and then rode away, 
followed by his officers. 

The Prince lost no time, and presently the dark 
forms of his horsemen swept around the hill and filed 
rapidly down to the river. Here the crossing had to 
be made in single file, delaying the march. As the 
horses took the water, a signal rocket from the Lib- 
eral camp hissed up into the air. Another and an- 
other followed, marking the direction of Salm-Salm’s 
advance. The project was discovered, it was plain. 
Once across the river, the column spurred forward, 
though the fire of infantry began to be heard on both 
flanks. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


195 


“ Strange !” I muttered, as I listened to the popping 
of the rifles. Usually there are none but cavalry to 
guard the plain.” 

“ That the Liberals knew of the attempt, was un- 
doubtedly true, for the march of Moret was presently 
barred by strong lines of infantry. Through them the 
advance guard cut their way and reached the Sierra 
Gorda with a loss of one-third of their number. Gen- 
eral Moret, incompetent and irresolute, halted his men 
and sent back to ask Salm-Salm what he should do. 
By the time the Prince reached the front, no passage 
was possible. Two batteries had come up on his right 
flank and opened fire, and there was no course left but 
to return to the city. 

General Mejia made no comment on the affair when 
I announced to him that the Prince had been unsuc- 
cessful. But if Pap Tomasito held his tongue it was 
not the same in the case of his friend. 

Coming up the stairway to my commander’s room, 
that evening, I heard voices within, one of them raised 
high in anger, and as I opened the door I recognized 
the deep tones of General Mendez. 

“ I tell you, Mejia,” he was saying when I entered, 
“ we are in a snare, and, what’s more, it is by design, 
too. Ha! who comes there?” 

“My aide, the Major Bellhurst. You may go on, 
Ramon; I trust Juan as I do myself,” Mejia said, 
rapidly. 

He was half sitting up in bed, propped by several 
pillows. Don Ramon Mendez had been striding back 
and forth across the room, his sombrero pushed back 
on his head and his red hussar jacket unbuttoned, and 
so earnestly had he been talking that he had allowed 
his cigar to go out. 

“ Ah, true,” he said, smiling cordially as he acknowl- 
edged my salute. “The Major is the friend of my 
Captain Callahan,” with a wave of his hand toward the 
wall opposite the bed, where Teddy leaned stolidly, 
his arms folded across his chest. 

I crossed the room to Callahan’s side, and General 
Mendez went on. 

“ There is no use shaking your head and telling me 
I am mistaken, Tomasito, the Emperor is beset by 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


396 

traitors. Every pian we decide on is known in Esco- 
bedo’s camp within twenty-four hours afterward. Some 
one deep in the Emperor’s confidence gives the enemy 
this information, and por Dios I I think I could make 
a shrewd guess as to the name of the traitor.” 

“You are excited, Ramon, or you would not talk so.” 

“lam not excited. We have been betrayed from 
the first, and all that has happened proves it. Why, 
in the name of all the saints, did we ever let ourselves 
be shut up in this accursed town? Who counseled 
the Emperor to hold Queretaro? Answer that! ” 

“Marquez!” Mejia said, with an uncontrollable con- 
tortion of the face. 

“Yes, Marquez. And where is Marquez now? 
Gone, and your two best regiments with him. Why has 
he not returned, as he swore he would ? Did he not 
give his word of honor to be back by the fifth ? Why 
is he not here ? ” 

“ Quien sabeV' murmured Mejia, hopelessly. 

“ Who knows ? I know, and you know too, though 
you will not admit it, even to yourself. Marquez went 
to Mexico to find more troops. He has them and will 
use them to make his own way. He hopes that he 
may grasp the reins of power and rule the land him- 
self. That is why he leaves us here to starve or sur- 
render. And Miramon is worse. As long as Maxi- 
milian is blind he will fool him with vain promises 
and keep him shut up here, exposed to constant danger. 
Let a bullet make an end of the Emperor, and you will 
see Don Miguel gather his forces to break through the 
Chinacos, and. have his throw for the crown.” 

“ Your hatred makes you severe toward Miramon, 
my dear Ramon. You see only his faults and deny 
his virtues. ” 

“Virtues! I fail to find that he has any. True, he 
is no coward, but the meanest Chinaco that fell at the 
Casa Blanca the other day could claim as much. For 
the rest, Miramon is not fit to command a corporal’s 
guard. Why did he let Salm-Salm take the San Gre- 
gorio and then fail in the support he promised him ? 
Why is not Salm-Salm riding along the road to Mexico 
at the present moment ? Because Miramon insisted 
that his imbecile friend Pantaloon Moret should be 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


197 


joined with the Prince in his expedition. Oh! I see 
clearly how things are going to turn out. The Em- 
peror trusts too much in Miramon, and Miramon will 
ruin him. There are only two men in Queretaro who 
can save him, Tomasito, you and I. If he would but 
trust himself to our guidance! But he will not. We 
could rescue him from this trap, and in time could seat 
him securely on the throne. But he is infatuated with 
Miramon and will not listen ‘to his true friends.’ ” 

“I agree with you that the Emperor might do well 
to follow the plan we have proposed,” General Mejia 
said in thoughtful tones. 

“Who can doubt it? My troops are devoted to 
me, and your men will follow as long as they see you 
at their head. What more easy than to force the 
Chinaco lines and gain the Sierra Gorda ? Alvarez 
has twelve hundred men there, and the Indians will 
rise in a body at the word of Pap Tomasito. No force 
that Juarez can assemble would ever dare to assail us 
in our mountain strongholds. We could maintain the 
war there for years, if need be, and conquer in the 
end.” 

“We might,” sadly said Pap Tomasito, “but, 
alas ! the Emperor will not go.” 

“No, he will not go. He will stay here, and if he 
fails to die from a Chinaco bullet, Miramon will arrest 
him some fine day and hand him over as a peace- 
offering to Juarez. That is, if Miramon islet alone. 
But, por Dios, Don Miguel, you’ll find that Ramon 
Mendez, ‘partisan,’ as you term him, will never allow 
you to carry out your plans ! I have troops that are 
i match for yours, and let the Emperor but say the 
vord, and I’ll have you before a platoon in the wink- 
,ing of an eye.” 

/ “Things are not so bad as that, Mendez. Though 
Miramon has made some mistakes I don’t believe him 
a traitor.” 

“ I he is a traitor. He may befool you with 
his oily tongue, but he cannot shut my eyes. Curse 
him ! were it not that I love the Emperor I’d blow 
out Miguel Miramon’s brains with my own hand.” 
And General Mendez lovingly patted the revolver at 
his waist. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


198 


“I must go to Arellano now, my friend,” he said 
presently. “I wish to make another attempt to find 
a spy that can bring me some news. Carajo ! I’ve 
been unlucky in that respect of late. I sent out 
three, a soldier, a women, and an officer, not more 
than a week ago, and not one of them have I seen 
since.” 

“Pardon me. General Mendez,” I said to the plump 
little Indian as he turned to depart, “are you 
really looking for trustworthy agents to send into the 
Liberal camp ? ” 

“Give me a man that can bring me news and I’ll 
not be niggardly about rewarding him, I promise you,” 
Mendez replied eagerly. “ But you don’t intend offer- 
ing yourself, do you. Major Bellhurst? ” 

“Not exactly. But I know of a man who will 
answer your purpose, I am sure, if I can only find 
him. ” 

“Then bring him to me. Major, and he shall have 
his own price, on the faith of Mendez. Soon, mark 
you, for I am sick of these fruitless attempts to gain 
information.” 

“I will go in search of him this very evening. Gen- 
eral. Will you permit the Captain Callahan to accom- 
pany me? ” 

“Willingly. I place the Captain at your orders. 
You are the Major’s for to-night, my Chinaco-splitter.” 

“Come to our rooms as soon as you can then, 
Teddy, and we’ll dine there,” I said as the General 
waved his hand to Mejia and left the room. 

He gave a nod of acquiescence and followed his 
commander. 

The clocks of Queretaro were striking the hour of 
nine when Teddy and I left our quarters and stepped 
out into the street. We wore scrapes over o.ur uni- 
forms and had our sombreros pulled down over our 
faces. Had any of our acquaintances chanced to meet 
us it would have been difficult for them to recognize 
us, swathed as we were to the chin. Though I did 
not regard our expedition as dangerous we both car- 
ried revolvers uiider our scrapes. Our sabers we had, 
of course. 

Manuel, my servant, who had been making inquiries 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


199 


for some days by my direction as to the best place 
and opportunity to find the person whom I wished to 
interrogate, walked in front of us. We went along 
silently and neither seemed inclined to utter a word. 
I did not care to talk, for I was debating with myself 
the chances of a favorable outcome to our errand. 
And Teddy, to whom I had refused to confide our des- 
tination, was wondering, I suppose, what all this 
mystery could mean. At all events his usually talk- 
ative tongue was still, and it was not until we had 
crossed the Plaza Independencia and were groping our 
way down an unlighted alley that led from one of the 
side streets opening on the square that he raised his 
voice to expostulate. 

“ In the name of the Virgin, Jack, where is that ras- 
cally Greaser of yours takin’ us ? I can’t see where 
me feet are goin’with me, and this murderin’ horse- 
blanket I have on keeps gettin’ between me legs an’ 
trippin’ me ivery step I take ! ” 

“Hold your noise. We ought to be almost there 
now,” I warned him. “ What is it, Manuel ? ” As my 
servant stopped and waited for us to come abreast of 
him. 

“ This is the house, Seiior; the one on the left. He 
is always at home by this time,” Manuel whispered. 

“Very well. You may go back now, I have no fur- 
ther need of you to-night,” I said, putting a gold piece 
into his hand. 

“ Si, Senor. ” The man disappeared in the darkness. 

f rapped lightly on the door of the house he had 
pointed out. There was no reply to my first knock, 
but I was certain that I had been heard, for a rustling 
came to my ears that sounded as if some one were 
moving hurriedly about within. Again I struck the 
door, and a few moments after a third time. In an- 
swer to my last blow a hoarse voice came in muffled 
tones through the wood, asking in Mexican: 

“Who is there ? ” 

“I. Open the door, Pedillo, and don’t keep me 
standing here in the street.” 

“I don’t know your voice. It is night and I haye 
gone to bed. Go away!” 

“ I don’t intend to go away until I have spoken to 


200 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


you. Let me in and I will give you a handful of pesos.*’ 

“ To the devil with your pesos! I wish to sleep. 
Away, I tell you, or I will unchain the dog. If he 
once fastens on your throat red-hot iron will not break 
his hold. Go away.” 

“Look here, my uncivil friend,” I said rapidly, “ I 
am an officer on General Mejia’s staff. I came here to 
talk with you, and I intend to enter your house. 
Peaceably if I can, but forcibly if I must. I have only 
to shout, and a squad of my men will be here in a 
moment. You had better let me in at once.” 

There was no answer to my threat, but, straining 
my ears, it seemed to me that I could hear voices con- 
versing rapidly in whispers. Presently the same thick 
accents came again. 

“ You say you are of Pap Tomasito’s staff; what is 
your name ? ” 

“ El Major Bellhurst.” 

'‘’‘Diablo! El gringo tigre!'" the voice began, and 
ceased suddenly, as if by command from some third 
person. Again there was a few moments’ silence, dur- 
ing which I thought I once more heard the whispering 
going on. Then a red bar of light flashed across the 
street as the door swung open, and I was bidden to 
enter. Teddy was at my heels, and as he stepped into 
the room the door was quickly closed and bolted 
behind him. 

Cuenio de Safanas !” hissed out my friend Pedillo, 
who was now standing before us, lamp in hand, and 
surveying us with a malevolent eye. “ I thought there 
was but one of you, or you should not have entered. 
Do you call it the faith of a gentleman, Seiior Gringo^ 
to say there is but one when there are two ? ” 

“ I didn’t tell you I was alone, old fellow. But it’s 
just the same as if I were. This is only my friend. 
Captain Callahan, and he’ll be dumb as an oyster about 
the whole affair. Come, give us a couple of chairs, 
and let us be comfortable while we talk.” 

As our host dragged forward two rough wooden stools, 
muttering meanwhile under his breath words that 
bore small resemblance to blessings, I looked around 
the room. Certainly the lemonade-seller inhabited no 
palatial residence. The apartment was roomy, but 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


201 


low, and the walls and ceiling were grimy with smoke 
and dirt. The floor was of trodden earth, and had not 
been swept for a month. Several pegs driven into the 
wall held a collection of more or less filthy garments, 
evidently the wardrobe of Pedillo. In a corner were 
two large earthen jars, used to carry about the cooling 
drinks he sold. In another corner lay a handsome 
silver-mounted saddle and bridle. A serape had been 
flung hastily over them in an attempt at concealment, 
but had been displaced, apparently by the movements 
of an enormous tawny hound chained to a ring in the 
wall. The brute’s greenish eyes were shot with red 
gleams from a fire that burned on the hearth, and his 
yellow fangs showed in his gaping jaws as he strained 
at his chain. Like his master, it was plain that he re- 
sented our intrusion. 

A curtain formed of two dirty serapes was hung 
across the room, stretching from wall to wall, and pre- 
vented us from seeing more than half of Pedillo’s 
lodging. This curtain still vibrated slightly as if it 
had been hastily drawn at our coming, and that fact, 
together with the half-hidden saddle, made me think 
that someone must be concealed behind it. Therefore 
I determined to be careful in what I said. 

The old Mexican placed the stools before the fire- 
place, and, throwing off our mantles, we sat down. I 
fancied that Pedillo’s eyes flashed wickedly as he 
noted the revolvers belted around our waists. As he 
seated himself upon the floor I saw the handle of a 
knife protruding from his right bota. 

The ventilation of the room was bad, and every now 
and then a blast of wind came. down the chimney, fill- 
ing the air with smoke from the fire-place. Besides, 
the place smelt like — well, it smelt like a Mexican. I 
took out my cigarette case, and, selecting one for my- 
self, offered its contents to Teddy and then to our 
host. Pedillo lighted his at a brand he snatched from 
the fire, blew a thin cloud of smoke through his nos- 
trils, and said: 

“ I am waiting, Senor."' 

‘ ‘ I suppose you want to know what brings me here, ” 
I began. “Well, it won’t take me very long to tell 
you. I wish to see Fabian Baraja.” 


202 


A PASSING EMPEROk. 


Pedillo’s snaky eyes fastened on mine, but he never 
moved a muscle. 

“Do you hear?” I said, again. “I wish to see 
Fabian Baraja.” 

“Yes, Sefior, I hear,” Pedillo answered calmly. 

But who is Fabian Baraja ?” 

“ He’s a man you know well, I have reason to be- 
lieve. Some weeks ago he was a guerillero in the band 
of El Cojo. You know his whereabouts, and must 
bring him to me. Do you understand ?” 

“ 1 understand your words, Senor. They are plain 
enough. Though I am old, I still have good ears, and 
you need not speak so loud. As for this Baraja, I 
never heard the name before. You must go elsewhere 
to find him.” 

“ Nonsense, you old fool, don’t try to play the inno- 
cent with me. If you knew me better you’d come 
straight out and tell me what I wish to hear, without 
any more shuffling.” 

“Perhaps I know more of the than he thinks,” 
the old man said quietly, and then replaced his cigar- 
ette between his withered lips. 

“ You do, eh ? What do you know of me ?” I asked, 
curiously. 

“ I know you are a reckless rider for one thing, 
Senor. You nearly ran me down once. . You believe 
yourself on the highroad to fame if Maximiliano con- 
quers. You are young and without fear. Therefore, 
you hope. Blind! blind that you are 1 Would that 
the same fate that awaits you were in store for every 
one of your cursed Gringo nation !” 

“You’re charitable, Pedillo,” I commented with a 
smile. “ You must have been in Santa Anna’s army 
to learn so much of my countrymen.” 

The old villain ejaculated Chinga!'' with a vehe- 
mence that showed my remark had gone home. 

“Come old boy, speak up ! ” I continued. “As I said 
before, I want to see Fabian Baraja.” 

“ N ombre de Dios! what is that to me? ” 

“Just ten pesos d’oro, neither more nor less,” I 
said, rising and tossing my cigarette into the fire. 
“ You shall have that amount if you bring Baraja to 
my quarters in the Plaza de la Cruz within the next 
two nights. What do you say? ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


203 


“Ten pesos d’oro,” Pedillo mused aloud. “Truly, 
I know the town well, and might be able to find such a 
man, though he is not now of my acquaintance. But 
ten pesos d’oro! It is coo little. Make it twenty.” 

“ Not a c/aco more, my aged innocent. Remember, 
I want him at once. ” 

“ You have some project in view for which you need 
a good man whose conscience is not too tender, then, 
my Major,” Pedillo said in a voice whose honeyed ac- 
cents were a strong contrast to his former surly tone. 

“ I should scarcely apply to Barajato have him read 
mass at the cathedral,” I said dryly. 

“Then why trouble him at all, SenorV' the old 
scoundrel remarked, persuasively, rising and laying 
his hand almost caressingly upon my arm. “ I am 
here, and Baraja is a child to me in adroit manage- 
ment of an affair. If you want anyone put out of the 
way, Pedillo is just the man to do it for you. I shall 
not haggle about the price, for I know your reputa- 
tion for being free with your gold. Don’t make the 
mistake of thinking me too old. I’ve a tooth here 
that can bite as deep and as fatally as any in the broad 
land of Mexico.” With a movement quick as 
lightning he flashed a long, wicked-looking knife from 
his boot-leg, and held it up before me. 

“Silence! You hound! How dare you use such 
words to a gentleman! ” a clear imperious voice rang 
through the room 

The serape curtain was rudely torn aside, and a 
fourth person stood revealed. 

Teddy and I had our revolvers drawn in a second, 
and then shoved them back into our belts. 

At the first glance one would have termed the new- 
comer a very handsome boy, clad in a ranchero cos- 
tume of black velvet, gorgeous with buttons and 
embroidery of silver. My eyes rested on a face that 
was familiar to me, however, and I needed no second 
look to assure me that the Senora Inez, wife of El 
Cojo, was standing before me. 

“ We are well met, Senor B^llhurst,” she said, step- 
ping forward with a mocking imitation of the military 
salute. “I see that you are ready to depart, and 
with your permission I will walk part of the way home 


204 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


with you, for there are matters about which I wish to 
speak to you. As for you,” turning to Pedillo, “do 
what the Major wishes, and let him have speech with 
Baraja as soon as you can. Sefior Bellhurst is a friend 
of my husband.” 

“Baraja shall be at your door to-morrow night, 
then, Sefior Pedillo made haste to assure me. 

Carrajo ! Why didn’t you say you knew El Cojo? 
Had you done so, I would have served you at once.” 

“ No more words, Pedillo, but open the door and 
let us out,” interrupted the senora. 

Once on the Plaza Independencia the fair Inez 
whispered: “ Get rid of your companion at once. 1 
must speak with you alone.” 

“ I’m through the matter we came on, old man,” I 
said, as I placed my hand affectionately on Teddy’s 
shoulder, “ and I thank you very much for your 
company. If you’re going to the Countess’s I’ll join 
you there in the course of the evening.” 

“ I’m off Jack, but one word in your ear before I 
go.” He caught my arm and murmured in earnest 
tones: “ Me son, walk in the middle of the street if 
ye come home before daylight. There’s no trustin’ a 
Greaser, so look out. Buenas noches^ Senora^ ” raising 
his sombrero courteously to Inez. 

Buenas noches^ Caballero^'' came her silvery tones as 
she returned his parting salute. 

“Now, Senora^''' I said, as we lost sight of Teddy’s 
serape-clad figure, “ I am at your service, so go on 
with what you have to tell me.” 

“Not here. The street is too public. Follow me, 
and we will be able to talk without the fear of being 
overheard.” 

A few steps brought us to the door of a dirty little 
posoda^ or inn. My fair guide entered it with the air of 
one familiar with the premises. 

“ Is your back room on the second floor occupied, 
Pepe? ” she inquired of a sullen-visaged Mexican who 
stood behind the bar in his shirt s eeves, and seemed 
to be the proprietor. 

“No, Senora^ the room is vacant and at your ser- 
vice,” he replied, respectfully. 

“Show my friend and myself up there at once, then. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


205 


.And let us have a lamp and a couple of bottles of wine. 
JBring cards also.” 

The inn-keeper hastened to obey. In a few mo- 
iments we were seated on a couple of rude benches 
•that stood on either side of a rickety table in the 
“back room on the second floor.” 

“Now, Senor Bellhurst, we may talk at our ease,” 
Inez said, lighting a cigarette. “Many things have 
ihappened since you saw me last. Have you had your 
•fill of fighting by this time ? ” 

“Oh, I can’t say that I’m exactly sated with battles 
yet,” I answered, laughing. “ You must remember 
that I’ve only seen a few week’s service. Apropos of 
battles, let me try to tell you how much I thank 
you for the horse you sent me. He is the king of 
cchargers. ” 

“So you guessed where he came from ? ” she smiled. 
“You really knew that he was my present to you? I 
;am glad of that! ” 

“ You were the only lady I knew in Mexico,” I ex- 
plained, “and to guess whence the horse came was 
not difficult,” 

“You know others she said, in a strangely al- 

tered tone. “ Tell me, has the Countess Montauran 
sent you any horses ? You are always there, is it not 
;so ? ” 

“You know the Countess, then?” My tone was 
rather surprised. 

“I know that you go there, as I know everything 
you have done since you left Mexico to follow Maxi- 
milianoto Queretaro.” 

“And what have I done ? ” I laughed uneasily. 

“Listen, and you shall hear. Oh! I have kept well 
informed of all your movements. I know how Mar- 
quez sent you to deliver the two ladies of your coun- 
try and their father from the hands of my husband, 
and how you captured and shot half his men. Mira! 
that was well done, Senor Bellhurst. You would make 
a fine leader for a band of guerilleros. You were as 
merciless as Carlos himself. But you let him escape. 
A Mexican would not have done that/* 

The sehora*s eyes met mine with a glance full of 
meaning. 


2o6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Of course I let him go. He is your husband/’ I 
said in puzz-led voice. 

“Yes, he is my husband,” she echoed with a laugh 
that somehow jarred on my nerves. “ He told me 
that you sent kind wishes to me and to the little one. 
The child is dead. You did not know that.” 

“Ah! I am sorry.” I pressed her hand in sym- 
pathy. 

“Yes, she was in the camp with us, and a piece of a 
bursting shell from your batteries killed her. So I am 
alone now.” The senora's eyes filled with tears. “ But 
let us not talk of her. I will go on. I know that there 
was once love in your heart for the tall senorita, with 
the red locks. And after you came back to Queretaro 
you met the little one often, and tried to have her 
plead your cause with her sister. She would not listen, 
and at last you gave it up and requited scorn with 
scorn. For you love no longer, the tall senorita. Is 
is not so ?” 

“You’ve correct information on that head. I love 
her no longer.” 

“So I knew in my own heart. You fought bravely 
in the first battle, and Pap Tomasito made you his 
aid. You are now his pet, and the men of the cavalry 
call you ^eltigre,' for they say you delight in blood- 
shed. That is well, Senor Juan. You are in a land of 
cruel deeds, and to be marked one must not be behind 
the others.” 

“The men do me too much honor,” I protested. 
“ I assure you I’m not so savage as they paint me.” 

*‘^Vaya! You are what you are, and I would not 
have you otherwise. Let me go on. You met the 
Captain Vallonga, and he took you to the house of 
that Chilean adventuress. She fancied you, and now 
you are constantly with her. Tell me, and tell me 
truly, do you love her ? ” Inez asked in fierce accents. 

I drank off half a tumbler of wine and set the glass 
carefully on the shaky table before replying. Then I 
said: 

“Love her'i What a question! I know the type 
of Isidora de Montauron too well.” 

“Look in my eyes, Juan. Look at me and tell me 
again that you do not love her.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


^07 

The beautiful dark eyes that met mine were full of 
eagerness, and grew soft as they rested on my face. 

“ On my word, I simply call on the countess to pass 
the time, and because she has a good cellar.” 

Bueno ! bueno ! I can see that your heart is un- 
touched. You go there only to be amused. But 
beware of that woman, Juan; beware of her, I say. 
Even now she helps Vallonga to rob you of your money 
at play.” 

‘‘Hold on a moment, my dear Senoray' I objected. 
“ I can’t let you asperse Captain, Vallonga. He is 
one of my best friends.” 

“As he has been the dearest friend of many others 
to whom his friendship has brought ruin and death. 
I know the man, Juan, I know him thoroughly. He is 
a fascinating and gallant gentleman on the surface, an 
unscrupulous villain in reality. Shun his company 
henceforward, I beg of you. ” 

“ My dear Senoray you are very kind to try and put 
me on my guard. But all that you tell me of Vallonga 
I have heard before, and I place no credence in such 
reports. Tell me explicitly what Vallonga has done 
that you give him so bad a name, and I may be con- 
vinced that his society is not good for me.” 

“ I dare not tell you more than I have said. The 
lips that would fain speak to save you are bound by 
solemn oaths. Take my word that I know he means 
you harm. If you will persist in your friendship, at 
least watch him always when you play with him. The 
pitcher goes to the well once too often, they say, and 
you may find him out.” 

“Was it only to warn me against the Captain that 
you brought me here, Senora V \ asked, coldly. 

“ To do that, and to warn you also that you had 
best lose no time in quitting Quer^taro. Listen, my 
friend, it is madness for you to stay here. The city 
must fall before many days. The cause of Maximili- 
ano is ruined.” 

“Not quite, I hope, Senoray” I said, in what I tried 
to make a confident voice. “ Reinforcements are on 
the way from Mexico under General Marquez, and 
when he comes, Escobedo will have to decamp.” 

“When he comes, yes. But suppose I were to tell 


2o8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


you that General Marquez will never come, Juan, and 
never intended to come.” 

“ Even if I knew that to be true, I would still re- 
main and fight to the last. I hold the Emperor’s com- 
mission, and I will not desert his banner as long as it 
floats,” I answered, decisively. 

“But when it floats no longer, Juan ? When Esco- 
bedo holds the Cruz with his Chinacos, and the im- 
perial forces are his prisoners, what will you do then ? 
If you do not know, I can tell you. You will be sent 
to the mines, a convict for life, unless you have at- 
tracted sufficient notice in the siege to be shot at 
once. How do you like the prospect ?” 

“Not very inviting, I confess, though the latter 
punishment would suit me better than the former. 
Some thousands of the Chinacos will have to go to 
perdition, though, before Escobedo dates his letters 
from the Cruz. Our troops are still numerous enough 
to make a strong defense.” 

“There are more ways of taking a city than by as- 
sault, or even by starvation,” Inez remarked. “ Quere- 
taro will be taken, and that shortly. But, Juan, you 
need not be among the prisoners. Let me save you, 
as you saved my child. Say the word, Juan, anrl you and 
your friend shall leave the town to-morrow night and 
be passed safe through the Liberal lines. I will answer 
for it that you escape, and will provide you with the 
means of reaching the Rio Grande. Will you go ?” 

“You have my answer, Senora Whatever be the 
fortune of Maximilian I am his soldier. I will not go,” 
I said rising, “I must leave you now to rejoin my 
friend. Good-by.” I held out my hand. 

She seemed lost in thought for a moment, her head 
bowed on her breast. Then raising it she muttered: 
“Not ‘good-by,’ Juan. I will save you in spite of 
yourself. May heaven watch over you and protect you !” 

Though I tried to dismiss the senora' s words from 
my mind, they would not be driven away. 

Over our game of baccarat that night I found my- 
self watching Vallonga like a hawk. The Captain won 
as usual, but his play was fair, as far as I could see. 
And when I shook his hand at parting my confidence 
was restored. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


209 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE DEVIL BEFRIENDS BARAJA. 

Among the reports I handed to Mejia on the morn- 
ing of the nineteenth was a letter addressed to the 
General, and marked “private.” As Pap Tomasito 
read it his face became contorted with rage. When he 
had finished he broke into a sputtering fit of profanity. 

“ Look, hijo he said, after his wrath had some- 
what abated, “look at this paper, and see the trust 
one can place in Mexican honor.” He held the letter 
toward me. 

I took it and ran my eyes over its contents. Fifteen 
officers of the Imperial army gave it as their opinion 
that our defense was hopeless, and begged General 
Mejia to join with them in forcing the Emperor to 
surrender. The highest ranking signatures were those 
of General Ramirez, Colonel Rubio, and Major 
Adami. 

“Take enough men with you and place every one of 
these cowards under arrest at once, ” the General ordered 
as I handed back the letter. “ Then carry the infernal 
missive to the Cruz, and give it to General Castillo. 
Por Dios ! If I have my way they shall all be shot.” 

His orders were promptly obeyed and the malcon-- 
tents were put in arrest. But the Emperor was for- 
giving and they escaped death, remaining in confine- 
ment until the end of the siege. 

Teddy brought General Mendez to our rooms about 
five o’clock that afternoon. And darkness had scarcely 
fallen when Manuel ushered in Pedillo and my old 
friend Fabian Baraja. 

“How are we. Major? ” the hardened rascal grinned 
as he entered. “ As I thought you would, you sent 
me word by Pedillo at last. What can I do for you? ” 

“In a moment, Baraja. Here are your ten pesos, 
Pedillo. You may await your friend below if you 
wish. Manuel, see that no one listens at the door.” 

“Now then. Major,” Baraja said as the door closed 
upon them, “what’s in the wind, may I ask? If 
there is money to be made, I’m your man, for the girl 


2io 


A passing EMPEkOk. 


at San Luis Potosi must have ribbons. Chingaro ! 
She loves only me now^ but she loves me best when my 
pockets are full. So let’s to business.” 

“It is with this gentleman that your affair lies,” I 
answered, indicating General Mendez, who had been 
sitting near the window, muffled in a manga to avoid 
recognition from the prying eyes of Pedillo. 

“ Then the gentleman knows we are all friends here 
and may speak without hesitation,” replied Fabian. 
“ If he wants anything in my line I’ll only be too happy 
to sell it to him. Cristo ! as the general rose and 
dropped his mantle, revealing his face. “It is Don 
Ramon! ” 

Baraja was quick in his dash for the door, but I had 
him fast before the knob turned in his hand. 

“ Let me go, Major! ” he panted. “ I do not wish 
to harm you, but, by the Virgin! if you do not loose 
your hold ” 

“Be quiet, you fool!” I cried, pushing him back 
into the middle of the room. “No one is going to 
hurt you.” Then, turning to the General, I said: 

“You understand, General Mendez, that Baraja is 
here on my invitation. That when I sent for him I 
tacitly guaranteed his safety.” 

The eyes of Mendez were glowing like live coals, 
and his lips were compressed; but he answered cour- 
teously enough: “Of course. Major, I shall respect 
your wishes. Do you hear, dog that you are ? The 
Major Bellhurst answers for your safety. Fear noth- 
ing from me at present, and listen to the business you 
were so anxious to know about just now.” 

Baraja was white to the lips, but the General’s 
words reassured him somewhat, and he assumed an at- 
titude of respectful attention. 

Mendez pulled a chair forward, lighted a cigar, and 
began to smoke, watching the jarocho attentively 
through half-closed eyes. 

“ Truly, Senor Bellhurst, it is perhaps the best thing 
that could have happened, after all — this curious 
chance of your bringing me face to face with this man 
Fabian again. He knows me to my sorrow, and were 
it not that your safeguard — but let that pass. The 
fellow, scoundrel of hell as he is, would make the best 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


21 1 


man for our purpose that we could find in Mexico, if 
he will undertake it,” he said at last. 

“I think he’ll oblige me in this matter, General,” I 
answered. “ He’s in my debt for a small service, and 
professes to be willing to square the account.” 

“Then give him to understand that in doing well 
the errand we would send him on he will cancel all 
obligation to you.” 

“ You hear what General Mendez says, Baraja. In 
giving him your aid you pay me all you fancy that you 
owe me. Speak, are you inclined to do what he 
asks ? ” 

“ I must first hear what Don Ramon wishes me to 
do, Senor^** Fabian said in cringing tones. 

“ Whether the business I propose to you be perilous 
or not you are the best judge,” Mendez said slowly. 
“I want you to pass through Escobedo’s lines and 
gather information of the whereabouts and intentions 
of General Marquez, ” said Mendez slowly. “ If he is in 
the city of Mexico you must fully inform yourself of 
the number of troops he has with him, and learn why 
he does not march on Quer^taro. You must also be 
able on your return to give us fairly accurate news of 
the position and strength of the Liberal forces. Are 
you equal to the task? ” 

“It could be done, Don Ramon. But not every 
man you meet on the streets would care to ven- 
ture the trying it. If the Chinacos found one out 
their reward would be the garrota. Will there be any 
papers to carry? ” Fabian asked. 

“None whatever. They might betray you,” an- 
swered the General. “Come, there is danger, it is 
true, but I fail to see why you should hesitate. You 
are in the habit of risking your life daily for the most 
pitiful sums. Bring me trustworthy news from Mex- 
ico, backed by some token that I cannot mistake from 
General Vidaurri, to whom you must report on reach- 
ing the city and you shall have two thousand pesos 
d’oro. I will pay you one hundred down, here in this 
room, as soon as you accept the mission, the rest on 
your return. Of course you understand that news 
of Escobedo’s army is included in what I am buying.” 

“ You may count out the hundred pesos, Don Ramon. 


212 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


1 will be your spy, and you may be certain that I shall 
earn my money.” 

“ Yes, I know that you are as wily a rascal as ever 
went unhung, and seem to prosper in all your deviltry, ” 
the General said. “By the way, I am curious to know 
how you escaped the bloodhounds I had on your track 
when you fled from the Hacienda del Venado. They 
must have pressed you close ! ” 

“The chase was hot, Don Ramon, but as you see I was 
not taken,” Baraja replied, half venturing on a smile. 
“About that matter, Don Ramon,” he continued after 
a pause of several seconds, “can we not cry ‘hold !’ 
By the sacred Virgin! if you will agree to call your 
account with me wiped out. I’ll do your errand to Mexico 
and the Liberal camp for one thousand.” 

“We’ll stick to my proposal, friend Fabian,” 
was the General’s grim reply. “My aide. Captain 
Callahan, will give you the hundred pesos. When 
may I look for your return?” 

“ I ought to be back by the twenty-fifth, or the day 
after that. I maybe able to come before. Quien sabeT' 

“ Then the twenty-sixth is the last day I will give 
you. I will expect news by that date. Give him his 
money, ('aptain, and we’ll be off.” And Mendez gath- 
ered up his 77ianga. 

“One moment, Don Ramon,” Baraja said, weighing 
a number of the coins Teddy told out in his hand. 
“ After I have done your errand, and you have no more 
need of me, I must have time to place myself beyond 
reach of your vengeance. Without your promise to 
that effect I shall not stir.” 

“ How long do you want?” 

“Three days. ” 

“Then until the fourth day after your return there 
shall be truce between you and me. Will that satisfy 
you?” 

“Perfectly. I wish you a very good evening.” 
Baraja had regained all his assurance. 

“I’ll be more than welcome at San Luis Potosi 
when next I go there, senor, ’ he chuckled, “the 
girl loves me, but she loves gold, too, and the Gen- 
eral's bounty will make me an emperor in her eyes, 
Carra77iba ! ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


213 


“You seem to know General Mendez pretty well,” 
I observed. “Both of you referred to some former 
passages in life. May I ask for the story, and not be 
indiscreet? ” 

“Hush, Seiior ! Cristo ! if he should come back 
and hear you, the recollection might make him take 
back his promise,” Barraja answered, giving a glance 
full of fear at the closed door. 

“ Nonsense. Don Ramon’s on his way to his quar- 
ters by this time. Go ahead! ” I commanded. 

“ I’ll give you a hint of the affair, for I don’t care 
to think of it often,” said the guerilla, drawing nearer 
to me and lowering his voice. 

“ It happened in Michuacan three years back. There 
was a woman, Dios ! a beautiful woman, and the Gen- 
eral worshiped the ground she trod on. The thought 
came to certain of us that it would not be a bad idea to 
abduct her and hold her for ransom; for we knew the 
General would coin his heart into pesos for her sake. 
To execute our plan was difficult, but we succeeded. 
I contributed much to the matter, taking service with 
Mendez as a groom, and watching the best time to 
carry her off. That is how Don Ramon knows me so 
well. ” 

“Well,” I said, as he paused, “you had the lady a 
prisoner. What then? ” 

“ We had her safe in the mountains, Senor, and one 
of the men was sent to Don Ramon about her ran- 
som. There were six of us. While one went to 
the General the other five stayed to guard the 
lady. There was agvardiente in the camp. The — 
the lady was a very beautiful woman. When a man’s 
blood is on fire with aguardiente he acts without count- 
ing the cost. ” 

“And you fiends had no mercy on that helpless 
woman ! ” I muttered, concluding the drama that fell 
from Baraja’s reluctant lips. 

“Exactly, Seiior. When our man. came back with 
the money we sent the lady to Don Ramon. She died 
a few days afterward. He managed to learn the 
names of all our party, and he will never rest until 
every one has fallen into his power. Only two of us 
are left. One man died of yellow fever at Vera Cruz. 


214 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Three others Don Ramon got. I don’t know how 
two of them died, but I know that he took three days 
to kill Canzas, the other one. So I always seek to 
live in a different part of Mexico from Don Ramon 
Mendez. Diablo! Senor, let’s talk of something 
pleasant. Why do you look at me in that fashion ? 
Your face is like chalk, and you have the eye of a wild 
beast ! What is the matter ? ” 

“Nothing, nothing, Baraja,” I managed to assure 
him. “ I get these spasms sometimes, but they soon 
pass. There, I am all right now. As you say, we 
had better talk of other matters. You will find a bot- 
tle and glasses in that closet. Bring them out and 
have a drink with me before you go.” 

Fabian Baraja poured out his brandy and nodded 
to me with a grin of appreciation after he had drank it 
off. But could he have read the thoughts my brain 
had held concerning him a moment before I doubt if 
he would have swallowed the liquor so unconcernedly. 
I registered a silent oath to Heaven that Baraja should 
not go unpunished for the unknown lady’s wrongs. 

“You met the Senora Inez last night at Pedillo’s, I 
hear. Major,” Fabian said, laughing as he reached for 
the bottle again. “And you went with her to Pepe 
the smuggler’s posada, where you stayed for some time. 
Better have a care. Major. She’s a handsome woman 
and well worth running some risk for, but El Cojo is 
an ugly enemy. So be warned in time.” 

Baraja disposed of a second stiff drink and rose to 
depart. 

“You had better think over wh t the sefwra said. 
Major,” he remarked, pausing at the door. “If you 
came to Mexico to make money you will never do so 
by remaining with Maximiliano. His sand is almost 
run out. The hour-glass holds but a few grains more 
for him. Leave him while there ■ is yet time. You 
need not join Juarez if you don’t care to. 'I have 
a scheme to propose to you that is far better than 
turning Chinaco.* Not a few of the boys are tired of 
El Cojo. I know nearly thirty who would willingly 
try their luck with a new commander. You are young, 
but you are a fearless and skillful soldier. With you 
at their head a small band could do great things. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


215 


Why not try your hand at the guerrilla trade? Say the 
word, and 1 will promise you enough followers to make 
a start. I know the country and would prove the best 
of lieutenants. If you wish, I can get rid of El Cojo 
for you, too. You could carry off the beautiful Inez 
then and have her all to yourself. No fear but that 
she’d go gladly. Don’t answer me now, but think 
well over what I’ve said, and I’ll talk to you again 
when I come back from Mexico. Adios! ” And 
Baraja was gone. 

The bandit’s proposals, far from angering me, caused 
me considerable amusement. There was a cool nerve 
in his suggestion that I should “try my hand at the 
guerrilla trade,” that tickled me, and I laughed to my- 
self as I poured out a drink of the brandy. 

“ By J ove ! ’ I muttered. ‘ ‘ How flattered the Hon. 
John Bellhurst would feel if he knew that an expert in 
the business had assured his son that he would make a 
success as a captain of Jarochos! ” 

The tramp of Teddy’s spurred heels on the stairs, 
and his noisy entrance into the room broke off the 
train of thought on which my mind was starting to 
run. 

“I saw them both safe off. Jack,” he reported. 
“I must say, me son, it’s choice company that ye 
manage to become acquainted with. Your friend Baraja 
is a handsome man, only he’ll never look his best un- 
til he adorns the end of a rope that’s tied fast to a 
stout branch. ” 

“ So long as they get the news we want we oughtn’t 
to find fault with their appearance, old fellow,” I an- 
swered. “ Are you ready for dinner ? ” 

“ I am that. Where do we go, the cafe in the Plaza 
or the Hotel Diligencias ? ” 

We dined sumptuously at the hotel on roast mule, 
frijoles (red beans), and wheaten tortillas. We had no 
bread, and the meal cost two pesos a head. But we could 
not complain, for the supply of provisions in Quer^- 
taro was running low, and we knew it. Most of the 
regiments were on half rations, and the horses of the 
cavalry were daily dying for the want of fodder. 

In spite of the scarcity about her the Countess Isi- 
dora still served first-rate suppers, and at her house 


2i6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


we made up for our dinner. Vallonga and I had our 
usual game of baccarat, and that night the cards 
seemed to be all in favor of the Captain. When we 
left the house in the Calle Miraflores my pockets were 
empty, I having lost a considerable sum. 

The next day, the twentieth, I passed in my usual 
round of duties. Again evening found me at the house 
of the Countess, and again I went home completely 
“busted. ” 

“Ye’d better leave baccarat alone for a few nights. 
Jack,” Teddy cautioned me as we were undressing. 
“ Vallonga has struck a streak of the divil’s own luck, 
and ye’d better give it a chance to wear itself out.” 

On the afternoon of the twenty-first I was riding by 
our position at the bridge of the Calle Miraflores, when 
I noticed several mounted officers intently observing 
the opposite side of the river through their glasses. 

As I pulled up, wondering at their evident curiosity, 
one of them who sat his horse some paces in front of 
the rest, lowered his field-glass, and turning his head, 
recognized me. He beckoned me to advance, and I 
rode up to him. It was General Mendez. 

“ Look ! ” he said, without acknowledging my salute, 
and pointing to a house across the Rio Blanco, near 
the Meson Sebastian. “Take my glass. Major, you 
will find it a good one.” 

I adjusted the lenses to my eyes and followed the 
direction of his finger. From the window of the house 
a man was hanging, suspended by a rope around his 
neck. His hands were bound tightly behind his back, 
and he was stone dead. A large card bearing the 
letters “ B 5 ” was fastened to his breast. The chin of 
the corpse had fallen forward and the coarse, matted 
black hair, long and greasy, hung over its face. The 
body was in ranchero attire, however, and it seemed to 
me wore the very garments that clothed Fabian Baraja 
when he bid me adws. 

I turned a questioning eye on General Mendez. He 
merely shrugged his shoulders and lighted a fresh cigar. 

“The devil befriended him that time. Major Bell- 
hurst,” he said in low tones after a puff or two. “I 
saw them hang him, and he died as soon as the rope 
tightened. Scarcely a kick did he make. ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


217 


“You think it is Baraja, then, General? ” returned I. 

“Of course, and our hope of news is gone for the 
time. Don’t you recognize the wretch’s dress? He 
wore that same jacket and calzoneros when I saw him 
in your rooms.” 


•f 

I 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE CIGARETTE ASHES ON THE CARD. 

As Teddy and I were crossing the Plaza de la Cruz 
that night on our way to the Countess Isidora’s, two 
women, apparently belonging to the lower ranks of 
society, came toward us. Their heads were closely 
muffled in rebosos — long scarfs worn by all classes of 
Mexican females — making it impossible for us to dis- 
tinguish their features; their other garments were poor 
and ordinary. It seemed to me that they eyed us with 
interest as we went by them, and after walking on a 
few paces one of them suddenly retraced her steps and 
caught me by the arm. 

“Some soldier’s wife who wants a dollar to buy a 
meal,” Teddy said without stopping. “They’ve got 
to be a perfect curse. Jack. Ye’d better send her 
about her business. Come on, don’t stop to waste 
politeness on her. ” 

“No, no!” the woman whispered in tones that 
reached my ears alone. “I am no beggar, Jack Bell- 
hurst. Let him think so, and send him on by himself. 

I must and will speak to you to-night.” 

“You go on to the Calle Miraflores, Teddy, and ^ 
never mind me. I know the lady and we have 
some private matters to discuss. I won’t be long,” I 
called, though my heart was thumping so furiously 
that I found it difficult to breathe. For the voice that 
came through the folds of the reboso was the one I 
loved beyond all women’s voices in the world, the 
voice of Alys Rowell. 

“May the saints be good to me, if ye haven’t 
another mysterious female friend ! Go on, Jack, and 


2i8 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


if a Greaser doesn’t knife ye yet ’twill be no fault of 
yours ! I’ll make myself scarce, though I hate to see 
ye make such an ass of yourself,” was Callahan’s Par- 
thian shot as he obeyed my request. 

“In the name of goodness. Miss Rowell, what are 
you doing here at this hour in such a costume ? I 
said impatiently, but in a low voice. “Don’t you 
know that the streets are unsafe now, and you run the 
risk of insult, if nothing worse ? ” 

“I haven’t time to listen to your scolding, Mr. 
Bellhurst,” she rejoined promptly. “ Come over here 
to the shadow of the wall. It is darker and we can 
see any one who may approach. ” 

As I followed her to the place she indicated, I no- 
ticed that her companion also sought the protecting 
shadows, but far enough away to be out of earshot. 

“Now you must be perfectly quiet and pay atten- 
tion to what I have to tell you,” Miss Rowell warned 
me. “ It’s to your interest to do so, and if you don’t 
hear my tale you will be very sorry. Will you promise 
to keep still and listen ? ” 

“ Go ahead. I promise to be quiet until you finish,” 
I said, folding my arms. 

“ VVell, yesterday afternoon the maid of Senorita 
Portales came to me in a very mysterious mood, and 
told me that there was a queer sort of man in the hall 
who declared he had a message for me. Of course my 
curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to hear 
what the man had to say. I went downstairs, and 
there he stood, sure enough, all wrapped up in a 
serape, with a silk handkerchief tied across his chin 
and his hat down over his face. When he saw me he 
came straight up to me, and I own I was a trifle 
scared. 

“ ‘You are the Senorita Rowell ?’ he said in almost 
a whisper. ‘You know the Senor Bellhurst, of General 
Mejia’s staff?’ 

‘“I know the gentleman you mention,’ I answered, 
rather stiffly, for I thought the man must bring some 
word from you, and I wondered how you dared have 
the impudence to address me. 

“ ‘ Then if you know Senor Bellhurst, and have any 
wish to do him a great service, manage to overhear 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 210 

what the Captain Vallonga and your uncle say to each 
other when next the Captain calls. Remember what 
you hear, and relate it yourself to Senor Bellhurst. 
He will believe you, and what you tell him may save 
his life and honor. Adios.' And the man went away 
like a flash.” 

Here I broke my promise to Miss Rowell and in- 
terrupted her. “Captain Vallonga!” I exclaimed. 
“ Does he call on your uncle ? ” 

“I thought you weren’t going to make a sound,” 
Alys said in a voice of reproof. “ Don’t you forget 
again, or you’ll repent it. Yes, Captain Vallonga calls 
at the Portales house nearly every day. And though 
he’s mostly occupied with Evelyn, uncle and he always 
have a little chat together before he leaves in the 
Senor Portales’s library.” 

“The man’s manner and what he wanted me to do 
were so queer and out of the way that I thought he 
must be crazy, and resolved to pay no attention to his 
words. Still I couldn’t get them out of my head, and 
while I was dressing for dinner I made up my mind 
that I’d try to hear what uncle and the captain talked 
about, just to satisfy my own self. Captain Vallonga 
stayed away last night, but he came this afternoon. 
When I saw his horse in the patio I slipped into the 
library and hid behind one of the window curtains. 
The window seats are quite deep, and the curtain is 
thick, heavy stuff, so all I had to do was to sit down 
and lean my head against the cushion. If I should be 
discovered I could pretend that I had been there read- 
ing, and had fallen asleep. 

“I waited a long time — hours, I thought; but at last 
I heard some one come in and sit down. It was 
uncle. I knew by his coughing, for he’s had a cold 
lately. He wasn’t at all patient, and drummed on the 
arm of his chair in a very irritating way. And once 
or twice I heard him swear. 

“After he had been there quite a while I heard him 
say. all of a sudden: ‘Ah, Captain, how are we to- 
day? Can you spare a few moments to me, now that 
you are leaving my daughter? ’ 

“Then I heard Evelyn’s voice, sneeringly: ‘The 
Captain must get back to General Miramon, papa. 


220 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


He cannot do for long without his valuable aide. ’ ” 

“ Then Miss Vernon doesn’t like Vallonga!” I inter- 
jected. 

“ Will you hold your tongue, Mr. John Bellhurst? ” 
demanded Alys. “No, she doesn’t care for him 
much, and occasionally she makes all kinds of fun of 
him. Now, I will go on. 

“‘The General can spare me for some moments 
more, Senorita^' said a voice that I recognized as 
Captain Vallonga’s. ‘ Even did I run the risk of in- 
curring his displeasure, still would I not hesitate to 
enjoy the interesting conversation of your father.’ 

“ ‘Run away, now, little girl,’ uncle said, teasingly, 
to Evelyn. ‘ We big men have some business to talk 
over. ’ 

“I heard her close the door, and they lighted their 
cigars. Then Mr. Vernon remarked: ‘Vallonga, how 
went the game last night? Did he lose again?’ 

“ ‘ Everything he had with him, Seiior. I got over fif- 
teen hundred pesos out of him,’ the captain answered. 
And they both laughed. 

“ ‘And how does he take it ?’ My uncle was very 
eager. ‘Does he squirm? Does he show that he 
feels his losses ? Do his hands shake, and does he 
curse his ill-luck ? Tell me, I want every detail.’ 

“ ‘To do the Major Bellhurst full justice, Senor 
Vernon, he plays as if the game had no interest at all 
for him. He smokes continually, and takes a drink 
pretty often, and chats a good deal with the Countess 
' sidora. That last is of great advantage to me, for he 
can’t watch the game and a pair of bright eyes at the 
same time.’ 

“ ‘ And you have more chance to use a little sleight 
of hand, eh ?’ uncle said, laughing. 

“‘What do you mean by those words? ’ cried the 
captain, very indignantly. 

“ ‘ Don’t be savage, my dear Vallonga. You know 
as well as I do that you and the Countess together 
have been fleecing young Bellhurst, and that I am 
paying you for doing it. Of course you don’t actu- 
ally tamper with the cards, but phenomenal runs of 
luck like this one of yours are rather suspicious,’ 
remarked my uncle. ‘ We’ll say no more about that. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


221 


however. So he doesn’t seem to take his losses hard ? ’ 

“‘He wins or loses with the same careless face, 
Senor Vernon,’ the captain said. ‘ But though he pre- 
tends not to watch the play closely, he has an eye like 
a hawk’s. And if it were not for the Countess and her 
smiles not a point of the game would pass him un- 
noticed. ’ 

“ ‘ Damn him ! ’ uncle cried. ‘ Yes, he did, and he said 
it as if he’d like to bite your head off. Look here. Jack, 
who is this Countess they were talking about ? ’ Alys 
broke off her story to ask. 

“I thought I wasn't to talk,” I suggested. The 
young lady was getting a good deal more friendly in 
her tone I noticed, the “Jack” proved that. 

“Well, you’re not to, but you may answer this one 
question. Who is this Countess Isidora? I want to 
know. ” 

“ She’s a Chilean lady, very wealthy I am told, who 
was caught here in Queretaro when the Liberals came 
down on us, and hasn’t been able to get away.'’ 

“And how is it that Captain Vallonga seemed so 
sure of meeting you at her house to-night? You may 
answer that, too. ” 

“The Countess is fond of society and receives her 
friends every evening. She is a charming hostess and 
many of the officers go there.” 

“And do you go there oftenV' Alys asked per- 
sistently. 

“ Well, I’ve been there every night for the past few 
weeks. ” 

“So that’s the way you spend your time, Mr John 
Bellhurst. I thought — but never mind what I thought. 
Is — is the Countess pretty? ” 

“Pretty is not exactly the word,” I said. “But 
she’s a fascinating woman and very handsome.” 

“Oh! And you go to her house every night, and 
play cards there. You might find a better way to pass 
your time, I should say. I think I’ll go home now.” 

“You haven’t finished telling me the rest of what 
you heard in the library,” I reminded her. 

“No, I haven’t, and I’ve a great mind not to tell 
you! You don’t deserve that I should give you any 
further warning. If Td known you were spending 


2 22 A PASSING EMPEROk. 

your evenings running after a horrid thing like this 
Countess I wouldn’t have come out to-night.” 

“Alys,” I said sadly, “why will you always mistake 
me? Don’t you guess in your own heart that there is 
nothing I would not do for you? Don’t you know that 
beside you, the Countess and all other women in the 
world are — ” 

“ WillyoM remember to keep your promise and not 
talk? ” she interrupted me hastily. “How do you sup- 
pose I am ever to tell you all if you keep up such a con- 
stant chattering? Now be still and listen. Where was 
I? Oh, yes, I know. When uncle said ‘damn him!’ 
Captain Vallonga laughed, and remarked: 

“ ‘You seem to have a very great hatred for young 
Bellhurst, Senor Vernon. ’ 

“ ‘ Yes,’ replied my uncle, ‘ I have. I hate him as 
I never hated man before. I want to see him ruined — 
hopelessly and irretrievably ruined. And after that, I 
want to see him dead. I will never rest satisfied until 
he is in his grave. ’ 

“ ‘ You will have the first part of your wish gratified 
to-night, then, Senor remarked Vallonga coolly. 

“ ‘And afterward, what then ?’ uncle said slowly. 

“ ‘ Afterward ?’ the captain repeated. 

“ ‘Yes, afterward. When you have emptied his 
pockets what will you do with him ?’ 

“ ‘My dear Senor Vernon,’ Vallonga answered, 
“when the Major Bellhurst has no more money he 
will cease to interest me. The house of the Countess, 
too, will have no welcome for him, and we will prob- 
ably never meet except in the line of duty.’ 

“Neither of them said a word for some moments. 
Then uncle’s voice came to my ears. 

“‘Vallonga,’ he said, ‘you know the bargain I 
made with you. I supplied you with funds to play as 
high as young Bellhurst would venture, and you were 
to ruin him. Is it not so ?’ 

“‘Exactly, Senor Vernon. And in return for my 
ruining the Senor Bellhurst you were to aid me in per- 
suading your daughter to marry me. Is that not so, 
too ?’ I heard the captain say. 

“ ‘ It is, and I will keep my promise. You say that 
to-night’s game will leave him penniless. So far so 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


223 


good. But I want more than that. The mere loss of 
money need not worry him for long. If he survives 
the siege he has only to write to his father to obtain 
more. Now, you must not turn the cold shoulder to 
him when you have won his last dollar. On the con- 
trary, you must be a closer friend than ever to 
him. During the time of his need you must be con- 
stantly in his company, and you must entangle him 
in some affair, I care not what nor how, that will 
bring dishonor upon his name. Have I made my 
meaning clear? ” 

“‘The thing might be done, Senor Vernon,’ ob- 
served the captain. ‘ I will try what the Countess 
can do in the matter. With her aid I have no doubt 
that Major Bellhurst might be placed in some situation 
that would be hard for him to explain. Isidora is a 
clever woman.’ 

“ ‘ And after that,’ uncle said fiercely, ‘ after shame 
and disgrace are coupled together when men speak of 
John Bellhurst, I want him killed. It will be easy for 
you to pick a quarrel with him. He has a temper of 
his own, I believe. ’ 

“ ‘You are suggesting something like assassination 
to me, Senor Vernon! ’ Vallonga replied. ‘I have no 
equal with the sword in Mexico. Why should I wish 
to take his life? You must find someone else to do that. ’ 
‘Captain Vallonga, you profess to love my daugh- 
ter, do you not?’ Uncle was fearfully .cool. ‘The 
reason I hate this Bellhurst so is because he once 
offered her a terrible insult. What do you say now? ’ 

“ ‘If that be so, he is a dead man, Senor Vernon,” 
the captain answered quietly. ‘ I will attend to that. 
If you have no more to say I will take my leave, for 
it is getting late.’ 

“‘By the way, I wish you would take me to the 
Countess’s to-night,’ Mr. Vernon added, as they rose 
from their chairs. ‘ I want to see my enemy’s defeat 
with my own eyes.’ 

“ ‘ I will call for you about eight o’clock,’ the cap- 
tain told him. Then I heard the door close as he 
went out. 

“ Uncle stood and listened to the sound of the cap- 
tain’s footsteps in the hall, and then he laughed 


224 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


hoarsely. ‘ Go on, you fool, go on and serve the 
purpose for which I use you. But you will find some 
difficulty in getting Evelyn Vernon.’ 

“You had better believe I was a good deal worried 
over what I had heard,” Alys continued. “Of course 
I know that uncle has a perfect right to hate you after 
the shameful way you treated Evelyn. But at the 
same time I couldn’t bear to know that he and the 
captain were plotting your death. I thought and 
thought over what I had better do, and tried to per- 
suade myself that it was none of my business anyway, 
and I had better leave you to take care of yourself. 
But I couldn’t do it, and the idea came into my head 
that if Vallonga should kill you it would be my fault 
for not warning you. So I persuaded the Senora Portales 
to come with me, though she doesn’t know what I am 
telling you, and we put on these old clothes so people 
wouldn’t know us. But npw your eyes are open and 
you'll stay away from this Countess Isidora’s house 
after this, won’t you ? ” 

“Now that you have finished, Alys,” I said, “let 
me say to you how grateful I am for your warning and 
how deeply — ” 

But she cut me short in my thanks. 

“ I came to you to-night because it was my duty to 
come, and not to listen to any of your hypocritical 
speeches, Mr. Bellhurst.” Her tone was icy. “Please 
remember that I think of you just as I did before, 
and make no attempt to presume on my being here. 
Only if you are the least bit grateful for what I have 
told you, you’ll live a better life and stop frequenting 
the company of such horrid people. I have nothing 
further to say,, so good-night.” 

“ At least let me see that you reach home safe,” I 
suggested. 

“The senora and I can find our way without you, 
and I don’t wish for any more of your conversation,” 
Alys answered decidedly. 

“ Very well. I will not force my undesired conver- 
sation upon you, but I insist that you allow me to walk 
a few steps behind you until you reach the Portales 
house. That will be protection, and I will not allow 
you to go home without it. ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


225 


‘‘You may do that,” she said a trifle more kindly. 

Then I stepped out from the wall and beckoned the 
senora. They walked rapidly away and I followed 
some ten paces in the rear, keeping watch over them 
until they disappeared within the house of the banker 
Portales. 

After waiting for some moments to be sure that they 
had had no trouble in entering, I turned away and 
sought the gay company I knew I would find at the 
Countess Isidora’s. 

The usual pleasure-loving assemblage filled the par- 
lors of the fair Chilean that night. As I entered, gay 
bursts of laughter came to my ears, mingled with the 
strains of a lively chorus from some Parisian opera- 
bouffe^ whose music the Countess was playirig. I made 
my way to the piano when the song was ended, and 
was listening to the lovely Isidora as she chided mein 
half-laughing tones for my tardy coming, when I felt 
some one press my arm. I turned and saw Vallonga. 

“ Here at last, eh, Juan? ” he smiled in his most 
charming manner. “ I’ve been looking for you with 
impatience, for I wish to make you known to a com- 
patriot of your own whom I brought here to-night. 
Senor Vernon, the Major Bellhurst. 

The captain stepped aside as he spoke and before 
me stood Lucky Vernon, holding out his hand. 

I bowed my recognition of the introduction, and as 
Vallonga was stooping over the Countess for a moment 
the old man stepped close to me and said in a whisper: 

“ I think you’ll agree with me that there is no need 
to pain our friend Vallonga by informing him of the 
unlucky mistake he has just made. For this evening 
only let us conduct ourselves as if we had never met 
before.” 

I gave my consent in a brief “ All right! ” and Val- 
ionga, joiningus immediately after, commenced a lively 
conversation. Teddy, who presently came up, seemed 
to understand the situation, for he betrayed no surprise 
at seeing old man Vernon with me, and we four went 
out to supper together. The kitchen of the Countess 
was still proof against the scarcity that prevailed in the 
city, and the wine flowed as freely as it had done on 
former occasions. Old Vernon drank a good deal, and 


226 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


the liquor made him a genial table companion. Val- 
longa was temperate as usual, and as for Teddy and 
myself, we drank whenever we felt thirsty. 

Vallonga’s manner was almost affectionate as we 
rose from the table. Holding me back a moment 
before entering the gaming-room he whispered : 
“Don’t you think it would be better to omit our cus- 
tomary baccarat, to-night, Juan ? ” 

“Why so ? ” I answered in the same tone. 

“You’ve lost large sums to me, and it weighs heav- 
ily on my conscience. I am fearful lest my run of 
luck continue and you lose more than you can spare. 
Better wait till fortune comes back to you.” 

“ Tm after my revenge to-night. You’ll find that 
you can’t always win before I’m done with you, ’ I 
whispered, smiling. 

“So be it.” We walked to the table that it had 
become a regular custom for the servants to reserve 
for us and took our seats. 

Teddy and Lucky Vernon drew up chairs to watch 
the game, and a number of others gathered about. 
The Countess Isidora usually sat behind me and looked 
over my shoulder. Beckoning my chum to me I told 
him in a low voice to occupy that position. With my 
rear thus guarded I felt tolerably sure that Vallonga 
could receive no information concerning my cards. 

As my opponent picked up the cards to deal I heard 
the voice of the Countess: “Ah! Captain Callahan, 
may I trouble you to fetch me my fan from the dining- 
room ? I must have left it on the table.” 

“You stay where you are, Teddy,” I whispered 
hastily. “You must pardon the Captain Callahan for 
notobeying. Countess,” I continued. “He is bring 
ing me luck. A change in his position will take it 
away. The Lieutenant D’Aguilar will be happy to 
bring your fan for you, I am sure.” 

The Countess hid her displeasure under a smiling 
countenance, while Lieutenant D’Aguilar — a mere boy 
in years, and madly in love with her — made haste to 
profit by my suggestion. Vallonga surfaced the pack 
scientifically, and began his deal. 

Heretofore I had been accustomed to bet against 
him with the utmost freedom, but I now pursued a 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


227 


different plan of battle, and with monotonous regularity 
I planked down five pesos before every hand. When 
the deal was about ended, the captain said, with a 
slight sneer: 

“Growing cautious in your old age, I see, Juan. 
Fortune never smiles on those who dare risk nothing 
for her favors.” 

But the cards ran pretty evenly till it came to my 
deal. 

“I’m coming for you now, Juan,” Vallonga said 
pleasantly, as I paused for him to make his bet before 
tossing him his first card. 

He placed a hundred pesos on the board. 

A moment after they were mine. 

That deal was full of interest. On every hand a 
heap of gold passed from one side of the table to the 
other. Now the captain’s pile rose high, now mine. 
The on-lookers, lost in the fascination of the game, 
let their cigars lie dead in their mouths, as they 
watched the ebb and flow of fortune. The last five 
hands I won, turning an eight or nine every time, and, 
on each, the stake was heavy. 

“I hope you won’t stick to your five-peso limit, 
still, Juan?” Vallonga said, rolling a cigarette before 
shuffling the cards. 

“Be easy. I’ll give you as good fun as you gave 
me,” I assured him. He lighted his cigarette, hold- 
ing it in his mouth as he shuffled, then took it between 
the middle fingers of his left hand as he snapped the 
cards on the cloth with his right. 

The first hand cost me a hundred pesos, the second 
a hundred more. The third call for a bet saw me 
place three hundred pesos on the table. He dealt me 
the queen of clubs and the deuce of diamonds. I 
called for a card and he faced the four of hearts for 
me. For himself he turned the five of spades and 
dropped the cards he had held, two aces, beside it. I 
had lost by one point. 

“ Close work, Juan,” he said, in half- pitying tones, 
as he drew in the coins. 

“ It simplv shows that I’m going to win this time,” 
I answered coolly. “Wait a moment till I count my 
bet.” 


228 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


I swiftly cast up the sum in the dwindling heap be- 
fore me, drew my note-case from my breast and added 
its contents, then thrust the whole forward. 

“Four thousand seven hundred and eighty-four 
pesos,” I announced laconically. 

I heard Teddy breathe quick as I picked up my 
cards. I held the three of clubs and the four of dia- 
monds. Vallonga had declared no hand, and a glance 
at him showed that he waited my call for a card. 

“ I’ll stand,” was my answer to the mute inquiry of 
his eyes. 

“ You stand. Then the bank must draw. And that 
top card will decide, for here is all I have at present.” 
And the Captain smilingly turned the cards he held to 
my view. They were the king of hearts and the ten 
of spades. 

“Yes, he went on, “that little top card there is the 
very one that is to bring me your magnificent bet. 
Look at it well, Juan, that little top card! And pre- 
pare to curse it, for it will beat you.” As he spoke he 
reached out his left hand with the cigarette still held 
between the middle fingers, and patted the card lov- 
ingly as if he wished to bespeak its good-will. My 
eyes, following his action, marked a small feather of 
ash drop from his cigarette and stop on the corner of 
the card. Vallonga took no notice of this, but replaced 
his cigarette between his lips for a long puff before 
facing his fortune. 

“Any time at your pleasure, Joaquin,” I murmured, 
lazily, and lay back in my seat. Somehow my gaze 
was fastened on the bit of ashes, and I did not take 
my eyes away from it as I waited for Vallonga to turn 
the card that would tell if I won or lost. The Captain 
expelled a cloud of smoke from his lungs and reached 
out his right hand, and still I watched that little gray- 
and-whitey speck. 

A muffled murmur went around the table; there was 
a furious oath from Teddy, and the mocking voice of 
Vallonga scarce veiled his triumph as he said: “What 
did I tell you, my poor Juan? I turn the nine.” 

Swiftly my eyes flew to the cloth in front of him. 
The nine of hearts lay faced up beside his ten and king. 

Back my glance flashed to the pack. 


A passing emperor. 


22g 


On the corner of the top card that little mite of ashes still 
lay ! 

’Twas Vallonga’s card, and I could swear he had not 
moved it. Where, then, had he got the nine ? 

“A moment. Captain Vallonga,” I said, arresting 
him in the act of reaching across the table for my stake. 
“One moment, if you please! Gentlemen, there are 
my cards. You see my hand counts seven points. Now 
pay attention to what I say. You may remember that 
the captain tapped the top card of the pack a moment 
ago with his left hand. You did, captain, is it not 
so?” 

“ Assuredly,” Vallonga answered, smiling amusedly. 
“ But what of that ?” 

“ Simply this! When you did so a piece of ash from 
your cigarette stuck on the corner of the card. I saw 
it, and my eyes have not been off it since. The card 
with the ash on the corner still lies on top of the pack 
and has not been turned. The nine spot you claim as 
yours you never got fairly.” 

As I spoke, Vallonga gradually went white. When 
I had finished, he bounded to his feet fairly screaming 
with passion : Hijo del demonio / You cursed gringo 

whiner ! Do you dare to intimate that I have 
cheated ?” 

“Oh, no, I don’t intimate that at all,” I said 
calmly. 

“ Then what do you mean by your words ? Carrajo r 
he growled, in a somewhat quieter tone. 

“I don’t intimate that you have cheated,” I said 
again, as I rose and drew myself to my full height. “ I 
say distinctly and plainly that you have cheated. There is 
the card you should have turned,” picking up the card 
from the top of the pack and holding it so all could 
see. “ ’Tis the jack of diamonds. Do you see it. 
Captain ?” and I drew the painted pasteboard sharply 
across his face. 


230 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


CHAPTER XXV. 

THE DUEL IN THE COUNTESS’s GARDEN. 

^ A Babel of excitement from the crowd followed my 
action, but I paid no attention to them. My eyes were 
fixed on the livid countenance of Vallonga. His eyes 
glared like those of some wild beast, his features 
were drawn and distorted with rage. 

“Your life! I will have your life for this insult!” he 
shouted in a voice hoarse and thick with passion. 
“ Do you hear ? accursed Americano^ I will have your 
life ! ” 

“ You may moderate your tones, sir, lam not deaf,” 
I coldly interrupted. “As a detected card-sharper I 
could refuse you the satisfaction due from one gentle- 
man to another. But your guilt rests on my unsup- 
ported word, and that may not have sufficient weight 
with some of the gentlemen present. Captain Calla- 
han, in whose hands I place myself, will cheerfully ar- 
range matters with your second, I am sure. Pocket 
the coin on the table, Teddy, and come into the next 
room with me.” 

But my caution was needless. Teddy had already 
grabbed the stakes. In a few seconds we were stand- 
ing together beside one of the windows in the drawing- 
room. 

“Ye mean to fight, then. Jack ?” he asked me anx- 
iously in low tones. “I wouldn’t doit. Sure ye’ve 
no obligation to meet him, the thieving blackguard ! ” 

“I know that very well. But it’s this way, Teddy: 
If I refuse to fight with him, my conduct will cause a 
deal of comment; some who hear of it will be 
sure to misunderstand, and instead of one duel I’ll be 
in for a dozen. The fellow’s a scoundrel, and no mis- 
take. The best thing I can think of is to kill him and 
have done with him. ” 

“By the saints! ye’ve reason with ye this time, me 
son. It would turn out just as ye say. So the sooner 
Senor Vallonga turns up his toes the better. The chal- 
lenge must come from them, ye know. Shall I say 
pistols at daybreak ? ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


231 


“ No. Choose sabers, and insist that we fight im- 
mediately in the garden behind the house. All present 
may witness the fight, if they wish, from the porches.” 

He’s the best man with the sword in the army, they 
say,” muttered Teddy warningly. 

“ I’ll risk his being better than I am,” I said cheer- 
ily. “I believe I know a thing or two about the 
weapon that the Greasers haven’t learned yet. Here 
comes Colonel Jablonski, evidently seeking you. In- 
sist on what I want, and arrange matters as quickly as 
you can.” 

Callahan stepped forward to meet the colonel. 

I was about to return to the room we had quitted 
when the Countess Isidora came swiftly up to me, her 
hands clasped and her beautiful face agitated and 
alarmed. 

“ Oh ! my poor boy, what have you done? ” she ex- 
claimed sadly. “ Juan, Juan, to accuse the captain 
of unfair play! Oh! it is dreadful.” 

“Only what he could have expected. Countess,” I 
said lightly. “Gentlemen who do those little tricks 
always get found out.” I ended my remarks with a 
laugh. 

‘ '‘Madre de Dios ! He laughs ! And at such a time ! ” 
cried the astonished Isidora. “ Infatuated boy! ” 

“Listen, I cannot bear that he should kill you. Go 
ask his pardon for what you have done. Vallonga has 
a generous nature and may relent. Go, for my sake.” 

I threw my head back, laughing long and loud. 

“ He has a generous nature,' eh ? ” I said mockingly. 
“ Well, we won’t try to draw on it to-night. I’m afraid 
that forgiving me would strain it too severely. As for 
you. Countess, I cannot see how my living or dying 
can affect you.” 

Yon cannot?” Isidora repeated, her eyes fixed on 
mine. “Ah ! Juan, are you so blind ? Have younot yet 
read the secret of my heart ? If you die I will die also, 
for I love you, Juan, love- you with my whole soul. 
There is nothing that you could ask me that I would 
not grant. Nothings do you hear ? Hasten, then, and 
ask his pardon. When your life is no more endangered 
come to me, and I will make you happier than you ever 
dreamed of being.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


232 


‘‘I must say that you’re a pretty cool hand,” I 
remarked admiringly. “ I don’t know exactly what 
your game is, but you act your part splendidly.” 

“Act my part? Explain yourself, Juan, I do not 
grasp your meaning,” she murmured in perplexed 
tones. 

“Oh, yes, you do. My dear Isidora you haven’t 
flattered yourself that because I treated you with out- 
ward respect I didn’t have sense enough to see through 
you, have you ? ” 

“You are killing me, Juan. For what, then, do you 
take me ? ” Isidora demanded beseechingly. 

“ For a fairly clever adventuress, my dear; the partner 
and mistress of our friend Vallonga. You have aided 
the captain in his attempts upon my purse, and both 
of you hold the money of the Senor Vernon as the 
wages of your perfidy.” 

The Countess started violently and seemed about 
to utter a protest, but I did not give her time. 

“Yours was a touching partnership,” I continued, 
as Teddy appeared in the doorway carrying my saber 
in his hand, and having his own belted around his 
waist. “An ideal couple, indeed, you make, and I al- 
most regret the loss I am going to cause you.” 

“ The loss ? ” stammered Isidora. 

“Yes, my dear Countess, the loss. Captain Calla- 
han bears in his right hand an instrument that is go- 
ing to cut short the promising career of your firm in a 
very few moments. Before you are an hour older you 
will be obliged to seek another confederate,” I said, 
with a bow and a smile. 

Then I turned from the bewildered Chilian to my 
second. 

“It’s all right. Jack,” Teddy said curtly. “We’ll 
have ye at it inside of two minutes. Any directions 
ye have to give in case he’s too much for ye ? ” 

“None whatever. You know where the letter I 
keep to be sent to the Hon. John lies in my desk. 
You’re heir to all my possessions, but I’m going to keep 
you waiting a while yet, though, never fear,” I 
smiled, pressing his hand. 

“The Virgin grant it! ” Teddy ejaculated piously. 
“ Come on, then! ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


233 


That Vallonga knew how and when we were to fight 
was evident. As we entered the cardroom he was 
talking aloud amid a cluster of his friends, among 
whom I perceived the gray head and snowy beard of 
Lucky Vernon, and the words I heard were: “ I intend 
to kill him, and ’tis better that all should see.” 

“To the garden, gentlemen,” Teddy sang out. 
“ The cork is drawn, and it remains only to drink the 
wine. But stay, I wish one thing to be distinctly under- 
stood. All present may view the duel from the porch 
or the windows, but no one except the principals. 
Colonel Jablonski and myself, must come down upon 
the lawn. If any one ventures it he’d better say a 
prayer first, for, by Heaven! I’ll shoot him without 
warning. Now, Jack, come ahead.” 

A moment later we had descended the steps of the 
porch, followed by Vallonga and Jablonski. Behind 
the house a broad patch of close-trimmed turf, bor- 
dered by the blossoming plants of the fair Isidora’s 
flower-garden, shone clear in the moonlight. It was 
upon this space that the duel was to be fought. 

Vallonga and myself stood silently apart, while Teddy 
and the colonel carefully examined the ground, throw- 
ing several stones and other small obstructions into 
the bushes. The whole of the company, even the 
ladies, thronged the veranda, and stood surveying the 
scene with breathless interest. 

The ground prepared, our seconds wasted no time. 

“Off with your clothes, me son,” said Teddy, as he 
approached me. “ Ye’re to fight stripped to the waist, 
both of ye; and, before ye begin, ye’re to be searched 
for weapons. Don’t get your mad up at that, ’twas 
my suggestion. A fellow who’ll cheat at cards is apt 
to have a knife or pistol in his pants. Strip to the 
buff, and, oh! me boy, for the love of Heaven, don’t get 
beat ! ” 

Colonel Jablonski was beside us. I submitted with- 
out comment to his search for weapons, while Teddy 
went to perform the same office for Vallonga. The 
colonel raised his cap, and returned to his principal, 
and Callahan handed me my saber. 

We walked to the center of the lawn. Vallonga and 
Jablonski were already there. Four sabers flashed in 


234 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


the moonlight in salute, and the seconds fell back, 
leaving my opponent and myself facing each other, 
perhaps six feet apart. The captain, like myself, was 
naked to the waist, and the powerful muscles of his 
arms and chest could be plainly seen. He “stripped 
big,” as sporting men say. But for that matter so 
did I. 

“Gentlemen, are you ready? ” came the hoarse voice 
of Colonel Jablonski, and a murmur of excited appre- 
hension ran through the little crowd of spectators on 
the veranda. 

“ Ready! ” our voices answered together. 

“ On guard, then. Vaya/” 

Our right feet were advanced as he spoke and our 
sabers crossed. 

Clash ! clash ! clash ! the sharp meeting of the heavy 
blades was voiced upon the , still night air. 

Confident in his skill Vallonga thought to make an 
end of me in short order. The onlookers held their 
breath as blow after blow crashed savagely in upon 
my guard, followed by vindictive thrust. The fury 
of his assault in no way disconcerted me, and my 
steady blade covered my body as effectually as a wall 
of steel. 

He was having a little too much fun at the start, I 
thought, and his ardor needed cooling. After parry- 
ing a wicked cut at the right side of my head I 
changed to carte as he came back to guard, and send- 
ing my point in over his hilt I barely pricked him in 
the throat. As he felt the steel he bounded a yard 
backward in retreat. I made no advance, but waited 
his return. As I stood waiting I laughed aloud. 

My laugh enraged him, as I knew it would. Back 
he came at me like a tiger and showered his 
strokes with redoubled viciousness. Feint after feint 
he tried in vain. There was no passing my guard. 
Cunning combination and skillful snare he put in 
practice, but to no purpose. 

My eyes, fixed upon his glaring orbs, read every 
meditated assault before it was executed. His breath 
came thicker and faster and I could see the drops of 
perspiration breaking out upon his contracted fore- 
head. In the midst of one of his maddest efforts he 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


235 


slipped, and I, taking advantage of the momentary 
deviation of his weapon, slapped him smartly across 
the face with the flat of my own. 

He cursed me furiously as he felt the blow and I 
laughed in reply, a low laugh full of gratified hatred. 
In a tone audible to no ear but his, I murmured 
mockingly: 

^'‘Dios! What child’s play? And yet they call this 
the best swordsman in Mexico!” 

A straight thrust at my throat, sent in with light- 
ning rapidity, was his answer. I parried it, but it 
came nearer getting home than any yet. Pressing 
my lips together I gripped tighter on my sword- 
hilt and became the aggressor in my turn. 

Then those who watched this desperate contest 
in the moonlight broke into half-spoken whispers of 
surprise and wonder. 

Inch by inch, foot by foot, I forced Vallonga back 
across the lawn toward the bushes, menacing him with 
point and blade so swiftly and dexterously that he 
never had time for aught but to parry. Teddy after- 
ward said that my sword-play that night was a poem. 
Back, ever back, I drove him. Then my vigilant eyes, 
fixed upon the desperate face before me, saw the ex- 
pression of cruel malignity it had worn since the be- 
ginning of the duel suddenly change for one fraught 
with the sickening fear of death. In the space it 
would take one to wink an eye Vallonga had realized 
that he was lost. He knew well that he was at my 
mercy — that at will I could send that thirsty steel down 
through his breastbone. He knew it and I knew it. 

For a moment he fenced wildly, and a moan of 
anguish was wrung from him by his fear. The sound 
of that sob was music in my ears. It told me that 
the wretched scoundrel was tasting all the bitterness 
of death. 

I had driven him by this time to the place where I 
had determined he should lie. We were close to the 
porch and near the line of rosebushes. Stopping my 
assault for an instant I held my point steady, mentally 
debating the place where I should send it home. 
Should I run him through the throat or the chest? 
Either lay within my power, and I had only to choose 


236 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


At this moment Vallonga, who no doubt read in my 
eyes that his time had come, gave a sudden bound 
backward, dropped his saber, wheeled and dived into 
the bushes, and disappeared in the night. 

A roar of curses and insulting epithets from his 
friends of an hour before was hurled after the fugitive, 
and must have been as salt to the smarting wounds of 
his spirit. I put on my upper garments amid general 
congratulation, and left the house of the Countess 
Isidora to return no more. Teddy was silent as we 
undressed, and made no remark upon my chaffing refer- 
ence to his wrinkled brow. Just as I was closing my 
eyes, however, I heard his voice. 

‘‘Jack!” 

“Well? ” 

“Where in h — 11 did that nine spot come from, any- 
how?” 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE emperor’s LAST CHANCE. 

It was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon on the 
twenty-fifth of April. I was in my quarters, seated at 
the writing table, busily engaged in copying a report. 

“ Major,” a voice said. “What! Not 

a very cordial welcome to an old acquaintance! ” 

I gazed in astonishment at the owner of the voice, 
and half raised my left arm in a gesture of repellance. 
Fabian Baraja was standing before me. 

“You!” I gasped at length. “I thought I saw you 
hanging dead from the window of a house across the 
river. But it is really you? Speak, are you a man or 
a phantom? ” 

Dios f I seem to have given you something of a 
fright, my'Maj or,” Baraja laughed. “Hanged! Chinga! 
May the day be far off when such a fate overtakes 
me ! But why did you think I had become a rope- 
dancer? ” 

“ Several days ago the Liberals hanged a man op- 
posite our post at the bridge. He wore the very clothes 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


237 


you had on when you bade us good-by, and both 
General Mendez and myself were sure that it could be 
no one else.” 

“ Poor Sandoval ! So you have met your deserts at 
last !” Baraja said, musingly. “He was in the con- 
trabandista line, and a good friend of mine, sefior," he 
went on to explain. “ He always admired that suit of 
clothes, and the night before I left we made a trade. 
He must have been starting on one of his smuggling 
trips, and probably was caught trying to get through 
the Chinaco pickets.” 

“Possibly,” I said, shortly. The defunct contra- 
bandist had no interest for me. Any one who envied 
Baraja the suit in question deserved to be hanged, in 
my opinion. Then I went on anxiously : “ But never 

mind Sandoval now. What news do you bring ? Where 
is General Marquez ? ” 

“Your pardon, my Major, but I thought that my 
tidings were for General Mendez,” insinuated the po- 
lite Fabian. 

“ Oh ! All right, then. We’ll go to his quarters at 
once.” Snatching up my cap and saber I led the way 
out of the room, closely followed by Baraja. 

We found General Mendez alone. Prince Salm-Salm, 
who shared his quarters, being with the Emperor. The 
General was as much surprised as I had been to see 
Baraja alive and in the best of spirits, and vented his 
astonishment in several characteristic oaths. 

“You may remain and hear what he has to say. 
Major,” Mendez was kind enough to remark. “ Now, 
Baraja, what news do you bring us of Marquez ?” 

“He will never come, Don Ramon. General Mar- 
quez is at present closely besieged in the city of Mexico 
by an army under the General Porfirio Diaz.” 

“Besieged! Thunder of Heaven, he should have 
had force enough to laugh at any army the Chinacos 
could oppose to him 1 How did all this come to pass?” 

“When General Marquez got to Mexico he gathered 
all the troops he could find there and marched on Puebla. 
At San Lorenzo, between Mexico and P-uebla, he was 
confronted by the General Diaz. Marquez offered battle 
and was beaten. He lost all his artillery and his troops 
were dispersed. He himself fled to Mexico with a few 


238 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


sombreros chicitos — what you call hussars. Diaz fol- 
lowed hard on his heels and has him shut up in the 
city.” 

“Hard news!” Mendez muttered through his teeth. 

“ Hard, indeed, Don Ramon. But there is worse to 
hear. The Liberals have taken Puebla.” 

“ Puebla in the power of Juarez! Impossible!” 

“It is as I say, Don Ramon. Puebla has fallen. 
The Chinacos shot three Imperial generals and fifty 
other officers after they took the place.” Baraja 
grinned as he gave us this cheerful information. 

“And what of Escobedo?” General Mendez asked 
with a frown that caused Fabian’s grin to disappear as 
if by magic. “ Will he attack now?” 

“ I have been in his camp, Don Ramon, and from 
what I could learn he will make no further attempts to 
storm Queretaro. The Chinacos seem to think that 
the easiest plan is to starve you out. Here on this 
paper,” drawing it from his breast as he spoke, “I have 
sketched the positions of his troops as well as I could, 
and marked down their numbers as nearly as I could 
estimate them. You won’t find the drawing very exact, 
as it was done from memory after I got into Queretaro 
to-day. But it is correct enough to be of value to you, 
I think.” 

“ No doubt of that,” answered Mendez, hastily run- 
ning his eyes over the rough map. “ But how can I 
be certain that the rest of your news is true and that 
you have really been to Mexico ? ” 

“General Vidaurri said you would know this token, 
Don Ramon.” Baraja displayed a small charm of Mex- 
ican bead-work. “I saw him in Mexico, and he in- 
structed me to say to you that in his opinion nothing 
remains for the Emperor but to break through and take 
position in the Sierra Gorda. ” 

“Right! You have indeed seen Vidaurri,” Mendez 
muttered as he examined the ornament. “ Wait below 
for a moment, and the Major Bellhurst will bring you 
the rest of your money.” He motioned Baraja to the 
door. 

Fabian once outside, the General counted out the 
gold and handed it to me saying: “ The scoundrel has 
brought most important information. I must go to the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


239 


Cruz at once, to lay it before the Emperor. I rely 
upon you, Major, to give General Mejia a full account 
of what you have heard. When you have done 
so, be good enough to request him to join me at the 
Cruz.” 

I saluted and went out. At the bottom of the stairs 
Baraja awaited me. 

“ Here is your reward, Fabian,” I said, handing him 
the purse. “I can testify that it is correct.” 

“ ’Tis heavy enough in all conscience,” he chuckled, 
thrusting the money in his bosom. '"'■Caramba! how 
the eyes of the girl at San Luis Potosi will shine when 
I pour the pesos into her lap! Adios, my Major, and 
don’t forget that if you want me again you can hear of 
me through Pedillo.” 

Pap Tomasito seemed greatly excited over the news 
I brought him and went at once to the Cruz, where he 
was closeted all the evening with the Emperor, Mira- 
mon. Prince Salm-Salm, and General Mendez. Their 
conference broke up at a late hour. 

I had been waiting for my general, and walked back to 
his quarters in company with him. Mejia was in the 
best of spirits, and joked freely while discussing our 
situation. As I bade him good-night he patted me 
kindly on the shoulder and said laughingly: “ Get a 
good edge put on your saber to-morrow, hijo mio. And 
be sure that your horse has all the provender you can 
give him. You will have use for both of them before 
many hours.” 

All day long on the twenty-sixth there were unmis- 
takable signs of preparation for battle. From sunrise 
to sunset I was busy inquiring into the fitness for ser- 
vice of the cavalry regiments, carrying messages to the 
Cruz and writing at General Mejia’s dictation. Teddy 
told me in the evening that the arms of the infantry 
had been carefully inspected during the day and that 
full supplies of cartridges had been issued in his gen- 
eral’s division. About eight o’clock in the evening 
Mejia sent orders to all colonels of regiments' under 
his command, directing them to have their men ready 
in the saddle by four o’clock next morning. 

At two o’clock in the morning of the twenty-seventh, 
all our belongings were safely stowed away on the 


240 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


backs of our pack-mules, and Manuel, placed in charge 
of them, was ordered to follow the movements of the 
troops stationed on the Plaza de la Cruz. Teddy and 
I made a hearty breakfast before leaving our quarters, 
and washed it down with a bottle of Burgundy that we 
had procured the evening before, draining the last 
glasses to the toast, “ Here’s no more of Queretaro *’ 
Both of us knew that the contemplated movement had 
for its object the breaking through Escobedo’s lines of 
investment and the withdrawal of the Emperor to the 
Sierra Gorda. 

I joined General Mejia shortly after three o’clock 
and found him eager for battle. We mounted at once 
and rode to the Casa Blanca, near which place the 
cavalry were to assemble. The night was still and the 
only breaks in the silence were the hoarse, distant 
shouts of “ Centinela alerte !" that reached our ears at 
regular intervals from the Liberal camps. 

Four o’clock struck, and the subdued hum of our 
stealthily moving troops began to rise from the shad- 
owy city. Slowly and with little noise the cavalry regi- 
ments came marching up, and there was plenty of 
work for us, officers of the staff, in getting them into 
position. The men rode as quietly as they could man- 
age, holding their scabbards under their legs and 
promptly checking any disposition of their horses to 
neigh. 

According to the plan of battle arranged the night 
before. General Castillo was to make a feigned attack 
on the Garita de Mexico, while General Miramon, with 
the division Mendez, was to rout the enemy at the 
foot of the Cimatario. The Emperor, with the body- 
guard, the hussars, and the regiment Empress was to 
await the result of Miramon’s assault. 

Between five and six o’clock Miramon’s column ad- 
vanced from the Chapel San Francisquito. At its 
head were the Cazadores, whom the brave Major Pit- 
ner, barely recovered from the wound he had received 
on the eleventh, led forward with his accustomed im- 
petuous valor. The battalion of the municipal guards 
ot Mexico followed in close support, and our fourth 
regiment of cavalry covered the right flank. 

At the same time the troops of General Castillo 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


241 


moved on the road, leading straight to the Garita. 

The Cazadores rushed forward, and the first line of 
the enemy, with one of their batteries, was speedily 
taken. Miriam had got the flank of the Chinacos and 
pressed his advantage. The Liberal brigade from 
Morelia was overthrown and dispersed. A panic fell 
upon the rest of their troops, and they fled by thou- 
sands. The strong Hacienda de Jacal, headquarters of 
General Corona, was taken also. Fifteen guns, seven 
stands of colors, five hundred and forty-seven prison- 
ers, among them twenty-one officers, large supplies of 
arms and ammunition, officers’ baggage and provisions 
were the trophies of Miramon’s victory. Many of the 
Liberals, and even seme of their generals, fled as far 
as Celaya, four leagues from Queretaro. 

Castillo turned his feint into a real attack and cap- 
tured six guns. But the Garita and the hacienda op- 
posite, regular forts of stone, defied his efforts. Now 
was the time when Miramon made his fatal error. In- 
stead of marching up the Cimatario and seizing the 
Cuesta China, whence he could have reduced the Gar- 
ita with artillery, he drew back his troops to the Casa 
Blanca. 

The citizens of Queretaro, half famished and despair- 
ing, had watched the progress of our gallant soldiers 
with eager eyes. When they saw our sweeping success 
they rushed into the camps of the enemy and helped 
themselves to the provisions they found there. 

The Emperor, aware that his troops were the victors, 
ordered his escort to remain in readiness on the Plaza 
de la Cruz, and, accompanied by Prince Salm-Salm, 
Colonel Pradillo, and Colonel Lopez, rode over the 
field of battle. Tremendous bursts of cheering ran 
through our columns when the soldiers caught sight of 
him. On all our lines the “ Diana ” was sounded, and 
the few bells left in Queretaro proclaimed the triumph 
of the Imperial arms. 

The moment was favorable for the army’s escape 
from Queretaro. But Miramon, intoxicated with his 
easily won victory, besought the Emperor to grasp the 
opportunity to crush the remainder of Escobedo’s 
forces. Pointing out the advantage we had already 
gained, he urged his plans with so much eloquence 


242 A PASSING EMPEROR. 

* 

that the unfortunate Maximilian was convinced. The 
idea of escape was abandoned, and further battle was 
decided on. 

Miramon was to advance on the right of the Cima- 
tario, sweep the crest of Cuesta China, and, crossing 
the river, assail San Gregorio. 

While our leaders wasted the precious moments in 
argument Escobedo was not idle. From the Cantara, 
on the other side of the city, he had seen the wide 
slope of Cimatario covered with his panic-stricken 
soldiers. At once he ordered his best troops across the 
river to retrieve the day. Even the Cazadores de 
Galeano, Escobedo’s finest cavalry regiment, armed 
with eight-shooters, American Spencer rifles, was sent 
into the fight. 

So confident was Miramon that he had paid no at- 
tention to the movements of Escobedo, and had even 
neglected to place a lookout on the crest of the Cima- 
tario. When our troops began to move, the Liberal 
reinforcements were already in line behind the brow 
of the hill, concealed from our view. Despite the 
abundant supply of captured ammunition, Pitner’s 
Cazadores were allowed to enter upon this new attack 
with only two or three cartridges apiece! 

The Emperor, radiant with hope, and confiding in 
the genius of Miramon, rode by that general’s side. 

Two-thirds of the way up the hill had been won, 
when the Liberal line suddenly showed upon the crest 
and a hail of bullets swept through the Imperial ranks. 
As the smoke of the volley drifted down upon the 
plain, the Cazadores de Galeano came around the left 
wing of the enemy at a gallop and dashed our cover- 
ing cavalry to fragments. They were thrown back in 
dismay upon the infantry, and our troops halted. 

The fire from the top of the hill augmented, and the 
Cazadores de Galeano, with their repeating rifles, 
rained a storm of lead upon them from the flank. On 
that occasion this one regiment fired fourteen thousand 
cartridges. Shot at from front and flank our men 
began to waver. 

At this crisis the Emperor .drew his sword and 
sprang out in front of the line. Salm-Salm was on his 
left and Miramon was on his right. But neither the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


243 


example nor the eloquence of their leaders could 
hold the troops firm. Disheartened, they turned 
their backs and fled toward the Casa Blanca. Wild 
with grief, Maximilian refused at first to retire. In 
vain Miramon and Salm-Salm pleaded with him. He 
was resolved to remain and find a soldier’s death. 

At length the Prince laid his hand on the Emperor’s 
left arm and said: “I implore your majesty not to 
expose yourself in such a useless manner. You owe 
it to your army not to throw away your life.” 

These words conquered his desperate determina- 
tion. Slowly he turned his horse and walked the 
animal to the Casa Blanca. 

In the confusion of the rout General Miramon for- 
got to provide for the security of the Cruz. Fortu- 
nately Pap Tomasito was at hand and acted with deci- 
sion. Bidding us follow him, he galloped to the 
regiment Empress and ordered the men to dismount. 
They were thrown into the Cruz to fight as infantry, 
and by the General’s order we brought thither the 
men who came with the captured guns. 

Gazing from the Cruz, the slope of the Cimatario 
presented a heartrending spectacle to our eyes. The 
Cazadores de Galeano were riding furiously among 
our flying troops, pitilessly cutting them down and 
killing every wounded man. In the short distance 
from the hill to the Casa Blanca we lost two hundred 
and fifty men. 

Though the day had so far gone against us, both 
Castillo and Salm-Salm were of the opinion that a 
successful attempt to leave the city might still be 
made. Escobedo had weakened his lines in the direc- 
tion of the Sierra Gorda by sending troops to the Cim- 
atario and it was possible for us to force our way 
through. But the Emperor remained closeted with 
Miramon for over an hour. At the end of that time 
he announced his determination to attack San Gre- 
gorio on the following day. Salm-Salm and Castillo 
begged him, if he were resolved on this plan, to attack 
immediately. But the counsels of Miramon prevailed, 
and Maximilian decided to wait for the morrow. 

Thus ended the disastrous twenty-seventh of April, 
a day so hopefully and favorably begun. 


244 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“Let US hope for better luck next time, General,” 
I said as I bade Pap Tomasito good-night in his quar- 
ters. 

The little Indian drew off his gauntlets and threw 
them down on the table. 

“Juan,” he said, in a tone of firm conviction, “it 
WAS THE Emperor’s last chance! ” 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

BETRAYED. 

The twenty-eighth of April passed without hostil 
ities on either side. Our supply of ammunition was 
low. The Emperor, misled by the sanguine argu- 
ments of Miramon, decided that a delay of a day or 
so would not matter. Therefore the proposed attack 
on San Gregorio was put off. 

The many combats during the siege had thinned 
the number of our troops to such an extent that the 
infantry was no longer strong enough to man the 
trenches. So the time drifted on — two desperate but 
unsuccessful sallies taking place on our part, a crush- 
ing bombardment on that of the enemy. 

By the eleventh of May provisions were nearly ex- 
hausted. The horses and mules got no fodder, and 
had to be contented with what they could pick up on 
the plazas of the city. Quarter rations were still 
issued to the regiment Empress and the body- 
guards. Most of the generals fed their horses on old 
straw beds, the contents of which were chopped up. 

A council of war met at noon in the room of Gen- 
eral Castillo. It was late before their sitting was over. 
As I rode back to quarters with General Mejia, I no- 
ticed that his face was continually contorted by those 
horrible grins I had learned were, with him, a mark of 
satisfaction. 

“ Well, Juan, hijo he said, when we were alone, 
“we are going to leave Quer^taro. We can break the 
Chinaco lines at any point we choose, and the whole 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


245 


army will go with us. I am to raise three thousand 
Indians here in the city, who will occupy the lines 
while we accomplish the evacuation. They will be 
armed with muskets, and will fire now and then during 
the night. Toward morning they will throw away 
their arms and return to their homes. So get to bed 
at once, and sleep well, for the next two or three days 
we must spend in getting these men together and arm- 
ing them.” t 

The twelfth and thirteenth passed swiftly. Mejia 
was indefatigable in his efforts to enroll the Indians, 
and by the night of the thirteenth we had the required 
three thousand. But we had so much difficulty in pro- 
curing muskets for them that the General requested 
that the evacuation might be postponed until the 
night of the fourteenth. To this the Emperor con- 
sented. 

On the evening of the fourteenth of May the whole 
army was in readiness to march. The point at which 
we were to break through the Liberal lines was known 
to no one, and it was to be decided by a council of 
war held immediately before the execution of our plan. 
This was to make treason impossible. 

The small store of maize still remaining was distrib- 
uted among the officers, and rations were issued to the 
regiment Empress, the hussars and the body-guard. 
At ten o’clock the council of war met to determine the 
place of attack. 

Unfortunately General Mejia had succeeded in secur- 
ing only twelve hundred muskets to arm the Indians, 
and pleaded so strongly for a delay of twenty-four 
hours that the Emperor granted his wish. This he did 
the more readily because Miramon observed “that it 
was still time enough, and a longer delay would have 
the good effect of making the enemy more secure and 
careless.” 

“Will we ever get out of this cursed town, Teddy?” 
I asked savagely when we found ourselves once more 
in the quarters we had hoped never to see again, 

“Faith, it looks as if we were fixtures here. Jack. 
It’s not the fault of Mendez, though, I can tell ye. He 
made a^ roarin’ speech to the men this evenin’, and 
after he was finished they’d have followed him through 


246 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Tartarus. Pap Tomasito seems to be the man that’s 
to blame this trip. ” 

“ Weil, you needn’t say anything against him. He’s 
been working like a Trojan, and you’d better believe 
it’s no light task to get those infernal Indians into 
shape,” I grumbled as I rolled into my bed. “ Good 
night. I’m dead tired from the day and the strain 
we’ve been on. ” 

I slept soundly that night, but toward morning I 
dreamed. I thought that I was walking through a 
beautiful garden with Alys Rowell by my side. Her 
hand lay trustingly in mine, and she listened willingly 
to the eager words of love I whispered in her ear. All 
at once Lucky Vernon sprang from behind a tree and 
seized me suddenly by the shoulder, shaking me sav- 
agely. I struck at the old man with all my force as I 
tore myself loose. 

“Hold up, I say. Jack, confound ye! Quit your 
hitting me and open your eyes! ” shouted Teddy Cal- 
lahan, who was standing by my bed and to whom I 
owed my furious shaking. 

“ What’s the matter with you, and why can’t you let 
me sleep? It’s not time for reveille yet,” I protested 
somewhat angrily, for I did not fancy such a delightful 
dream being interrupted. 

“There's enough the matter, if ye’ll only think so. 
The Chinacos are in the town and the Plaza is filling 
with them. Into your clothes with ye and dress as ye 
never dressed before. Manuel has gone for the 
horses. ” 

I hurried into my uniform as fast as I could, and of 
course my fingers were all thumbs. As I finished 
buckling on my revolvers, Manuel rushed into the 
room. 

“ The horses are at the door, seiiors^ but you must 
be quick. There are none but Liberal troops in the 
Plaza, and in a little while they will be too many for 
you to ride through them.” 

We ran down to the street and sprang into our saddles. 
Day was fast breaking, and in the dim morning light 
we could see that the detachments of the hussars and 
the regiment Empress, that should have been on the 
Plaza de la Cruz, were nowhere visible. In their 


A passing emperor. 


247 


stead infantry were entering the square through an 
embrasure of the battery, and we recognized the gray 
uniforms of the Supremos Poderes. 

We galloped across the Plaza and no one offered to 
molest us. Teddy gave a furious curse under his 
breath as he saw a regiment come marching up the 
street he would have to take in order to reach his 
commander. His reins were in his teeth and he had a 
revolver in each hand a moment after, but I stopped 
him. 

“You can never do it, old man, so don’t make the 
attempt. The way is open to Mejia’s quarters. Come 
along with me. You can do as good service there as 
anywhere, and we’ll be together. For, Teddy, this 
looks to me like the wind-up.” 

“I’m of your way of thinkin’ about it, meself. 
Jack,” Callahan returned, shoving his pistols into the 
holsters. 

General Mejia’s horse was standing before his door 
as we rode up. He came clanking down the stairs 
and cried briskly: “We will ride to the Cruz at once 
to defend the Emperor.” 

A soldier of the body-guard, his horse urged to full 
speed, came dashing up the street. 

“Your Excellency,” he shouted, as he reined his 
foaming charger, “ I bear an order from the Emperor! 
His Majesty directs that you assemble all the troops 
you can and come at once to the Cerro de la Campana! 
Make haste, for the love of Heaven, make haste!” 

“You know where the cavalry are quartered. Major 
Bellhurst,” the general said quickly. “Ride with all 
speed, and order the regiments to assemble at the 
Casa Blanca.” 

My horse, the present of the Senora Inez, was fleet 
as the wind, and needed no spurring. I found most 
of the officers still in bed and not yet alarmed, though 
a scattering fire of musketry began to be heard. Hav- 
ing ordered all the colonels to bring the regiments to 
the Casa as soon as they could, I galloped there my- 
self. As I came near several shots were fired at me, 
and to my horror I perceived that the post must be in 
the hands of the enemy. A small body of cavalry 
trotting across the plain toward the Cerro de la Cam- 


A PASSING EMPEkOR. 


248 

pana attracted my attention, and I hastened to join 
them. It was General Mejia with Teddy, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Count Pachta, Lieutenant Montecon, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Pitner, and several other officers. They 
had with them part of the body-guard, the only force 
ready to mount when called upon. 

“Too late, eh, John ? This is all we can muster,” 
Pap Tomasito said coolly, as he waved his hand to- 
ward his followers. “ By the time the men can get to 
horse they will be unable to join us. To the Emperor, 
and take his orders. Perhaps there may be some way 
out yet! ” 

On the Cerro de la Campana we found Maximilian 
with General Castillo and Prince Salm-Salm. A bat- 
talion of infantry occupied the hill. This and the 
small force of cavalry brought by Mejia were all the 
troops left to the luckless sovereign. It was now 
bright day, and as the rising sun shed his rays upon 
the roofs of Queretaro, we suddenly heard the bells of 
the Cruz peal out, announcing to the Liberals that the 
city was theirs. From the camps of the besiegers the 
“ Diana ” was sounded in exultant answer. 

At once the batteries from San Gregorio and the 
Casa Blanca opened fire on our position on the Cerro. 
Heavy masses of infantry were thronging into the 
town, and we could see our troops going over to the 
enemy. 

The Emperor inquired for General Miramon, but he 
was in the city, endeavoring to assemble the troops. 

Anxiously we looked toward the city, hoping to see 
our troops marching to the Cerro. But every mes- 
senger brought news that on all sides they were joining 
the Liberals. 

“General Mejia!” shouted Salm-Salm wheeling his 
horse up by Pap Tomasito’s side, “the Emperor de- 
sires to know if it be possible to. cut our way out.” 

Sadly the little Indian shook his head. “ There is 
no chance. Prince, believe me,” he answered. 

A third battery came galloping into the plain, 
unlimbered, and opened fire upon us, and the one from 
the Casa Blanca was advanced to the Garita de Cel- 
aya. So severe was the fire that the battalion holding 
our lines sought shelter in the trenches. “ Baby,” the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


249 


Emperor’s King Charles spaniel, who had followed his 
master, ran whimpering about among the horses’ legs, 
frightened by the bursting shells. 

The Emperor, with Castillo and Salm-Salm, came up 
to General Mejia, and Maximilian himself asked if we 
could not hope to ride through the hostile columns. 

“ We have only a handful of cavalry,” PapTamasito 
said, “ and part of that is little reliable. Your Majesty 
may look around and judge whether there is any chance 
left. I care but little whether I am killed. But I will 
not take on me the responsibility of leading your Maj- 
esty to certain death.” 

A fire of musketry was now poured on us from two 
sides. It would have been madness to make further 
resistance. Maximilian sent Lieutenant-Colonel Pradil- 
lo, under a white flag, to treat with Escobedo. General 
Echegaray now came forward with a small detachment, 
and bidding his men halt, advanced alone with great 
caution. 

The Emperor unbuttoned his great-coat to show his 
uniform and orders, and leaning on his sword, awaited 
the approach of the Liberal General. Mejia and Cas- 
tillo were to his right, Salm-Salm stood at his left, and 
we other officers grouped ourselves behind him. Gen- 
eral Echegaray approached slowly, and baring his head, 
declared that Maximilian was his prisoner. 

A few words passed, and then the horses of the Em- 
peror were called for, and he mounted, to be taken to 
General Escobedo. Both Teddy and myself managed 
to keep our horses, and followed behind the Imperial 
party. Others of our officers were not so fortunate, 
their mounts being seized by the Liberals. We hoped 
to see the ending of the capitulation, but at this mo- 
ment another body of horse came riding up and crowded 
around us. I was wondering how soon they would 
deprive us of our weapons and take away our money, 
when a hand was laid on my shoulder. I turned in my 
saddle and looked into the dark visage of El Cojo. 

Well met, amigo,"' said, 'the bandit, with a laugh, 
as he held out his hand. I shook it cordially, and he 
went on in low tones: “Give your friend the hint, 
and ride in among my men. They are directly behind 
you. You shall both go into Queretaro as part of my 


250 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


band, and we’ll see if you can’t be spared the fate that 
waitsTor the others. Say nothing, but do as I suggest. ” 
I whispered to Teddy, communicating El Cojo’s 
wish, and we reined our horses back among the jaro 
chos. They closed around us, and one of the filthy 
vagabonds whipped off his serape and threw it around 
my shoulders hiding my uniform. I appreciated the 
attention, though the garment was none too clean. 
Another of the guerilleros performed the same kind of 
office for Teddy. Evidently their leader had issued 
commands concerning us. The Emperor was con- 
ducted into the town, but our squad, instead of follow- 
ing, galloped across the plain and entered Queretaro 
by the Garita de Mexico. 

The streets were thronged with the victorious sol- 
diery and we wCre forced to ride slowly. But El Cojo 
seemed to know where he was going, and, to my sur- 
prise, at last rode into the patio oi a house that I recog- 
nized as belonging to the banker Portales. Along 
with his men he dismounted in the court. The house 
appeared to have been respected by the Liberals, a sen- 
tinel in a red manga being stationed at the entrance. 
El Cojo bade Teddy and myself enter the house with 
him. Obediently we walked behind him into the Senor 
Portales’s library. I looked about the room with con- 
siderable interest. Here was the place where Miss 
Rowell had heard her uncle plotting against me with 
Vallonga. El Cojo walked to a desk as if he were per- 
fectly at home, drew out a box of cigars and passed 
them to Teddy and me, motioning at the same time 
for us to be seated. 

“ Senor Bellhurst, the situation is somewhat changed 
since we last met,” Morales said smiling. May I re- 
quest that you present me to your friend? ” 

I performed the introduction, El Cojo seating him- 
self on the table, swinging his legs while he talked. 

Diablo I I am now on top,” he laughed. “ Don’t 
be alarmed though, for I shall treat you as you did me. 
You and the Senoi Callahan shall be none the worse 
off for falling into the hands of El Cojo.” 

“Tell me,” I broke in, “ how it is that your army 
is in possession of Queretaro? ” 

“Bah! nothing easier ! Colonel Lopez sold Maxi- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


251 


miliano to General Escobedo last night, and we lost no 
time in getting hold of our purchase.” 

“ Colonel Lopez ? ” I exclaimed. 

“The identical man! ’ Morales affirmed. “As com- 
mandant of the Cruz he could carry out his treachery 
at his pleasure. He sent your hussars and the body 
guard of Maximiliano back to their quarters last night 
and ordered them to unsaddle. He thus managed that 
there were no troops in the Cruz, and himself led in a 
body of the Supremos Poderes. Why Maximiliano was 
not taken in his room I cannot understand. It could 
have been done. ” 

“The damnable traitor!” I muttered fiercely. I 
would have given considerable to have had my hand on 
tlie throat of Colonel Lopez at that moment. 

“Don't worry, Senor Bellhurst. A man like that 
will always get his deserts. They generally hang 
themselves, if you only give them time. A more seri- 
ous matter claims our attention at present; namely, 
what you and the Senor Callahan are to do. I don’t 
suppose you care to be marched off and shut up with 
the other officers and probably shot, as many of them 
will be. ” 

“ No, I can’t say that I do. But as to any way of 
avoiding the charming lot you mention, I must confess 
that I can’t see it,” I replied. 

“ I can, though. And if you will follow my plan you 
shall be safe in your own country within a couple of 
months. Listen! The cause you have served is lost. 
Maximiliano’s throne has fallen and will never be re- 
established. His army exists no longer. Therefore 
you are absolved from your duty to him as soldiers, 
and are once more private citizens. You can be saved 
from imprisonment and trial, but to accomplish this it 
is imperative that you should join my band. For the 
time only, you understand, of course. I have much 
influence with our commander-in-chief, and if I swear 
that you two are of my following it will protect you. 
Don’t imagine that I shall expect you to take part in 
any active service. We shall be for a time in Quere- 
taro, and while we are here it will be better for your 
health to keep close to this house, which I have seized 
for my headquarters. You have an implacable enemy 


1^52 


A PASSING EMP^ROk. 


in our army, Senor Bellhurst, I may as well tell you that 
now. If you care for your life you had best be on 
your guard against assassination.” 

“An enemy in your army!” I said wonderingly. 
“Why, I don’t know anyone in it but yourself, and 
our old acquaintance Baraja, if he be with you.” 

“Oh, yes, you do. There was a captain on Mira- 
mon’s staff whom you drove out of the city. He was 
one of our spies, too, which perhaps you did not 
guess, and furnished Escobedo with valuable informa- 
tion. I see by your face that you now know whom I 
mean. Senor Bellhurst, Vallonga is now colonel of a 
regiment in the army of the Republic, and if I were 
you I would take care of myself. A decidedly unfor- 
giving gentleman is the Senor Joaquin Vallonga. 
Come, what do you say to my plan ? ” 

“What do you think of it, Teddy ?” Tasked, turning 
to Callahan. 

“We’d be fools to say no. Jack,” returned my chum 
in firm accents. “The jig is up with the Emperor, 
and we stuck to him to the last. Now we’ve got to 
think of our own skins.” 

“Your head’s pretty level, Teddy,” I laughed. 
“Senor Morales, we shall be delighted to be your 
soldiers.” 

“I’ll rank both of you among my lieutenants,” El 
Cojo said, grinning. “You won’t have any work to 
do. All my orders at present are that you remain in 
the house. As soon as I am able to leave Queretaro 
I pledge my word to see you safe to the American 
border. There is my hand on it.” 

Teddy and I shook the proffered hand in turn. And 
we, who had risen that morning officers in the Imperial 
army, before noon had become chiefs in the Liberal 
guerrilla band of El Cojo. 


BOOK III. 

For the Girls ! 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

BELLHURST THE GUERRILLA. 

Our new commander lost no time in completing our 
transformation into members of his band. Calling 
one of his men from the hall he gave him some orders 
in a low tone and the fellow went out, returning in a 
few moments with two others who bore In their arms 
a motley collection of Mexican clothing. The gar- 
ments were deposited on a lounge, and our friend El 
Cojo, waving his hand toward them, briefly bade us 
make our selections. When we had done so, and ex- 
changed our Imperialist uniforms for our new clothes, 
the result was striking. 

“Faith, it’s not after this that anyone can tell me 
clothes don’t make the man,” observed Teddy as he 
looked me over with his head held on one side. 
“Take a peep at yourself in the glass. Jack, and swell 
up with pride. It’s meself that would like to see ye 
ride through Highland Falls in that costume. Begad, 
the women would be lockin’ themselves in the houses. 
It’s a born thief ye look. Jack, and the man would be 
brave who wouldn’t shell out his cash the minute 
ye bawled ‘ hands up ! ’ ” 

“Humph! It’s a case of the pot and kettle,” I 
rejoined. “There’s not a man on the Bowery who 
wouldn't shoot you on sight if he caught you fooling 
around his premises. You’re about as villainous looking 
a miscreant as I ever saw outside of an opera chorus.” 


254 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


True to his nationality, Teddy had chosen a ranchero 
costume of green velvet, with silver buttons up the 
sides of the trousers. A red sash was wound about 
his waist, and a silk handkerchief, gay in broad red 
and yellow stripes, he had bound tightly around his 
head, hiding his hair. Over this he wore his som- 
brero, and the whole effect was one of comical 
ferocity. 

While we roared with laughter and joked each other 
on our brigandish appearance, El Cojo stood patiently 
by, evidently seeing no cause for our mirth. 

“If you have all you need, Sefiors^ my men will 
take the rest of the things away,” he remarked. 
“ Here, Gabriel ! Carlos! Find the wine-cellar and 
send us in a couple of flasks Take care that you 
don’t go to swilling on your own account, however. 
The house and all in it are mine. Therefore be care- 
ful. ” 

“ You seem to have taken up your quarters with 
judgment, Senor Morales,” I said, as the men de- 
parted. 

'‘'‘For Dios ! Yes, it’s one of the best houses in the 
city, and known to me of old. As soon as we entered 
I led my men here, and prevented any others of our 
troops from occupying it. I killed two birds with one 
stone, too, for I wanted to get hold of my prisoners 
again. The ones you liberated from my clutches, you 
remember, your old compatriot and his fair daugh- 
ters. ” 

“They — they are in the house, then?” I asked 
carelessly, though a quiver was in my voice. 

“ Upstairs, all safe and sound. With the guard I’ve 
put over them they’ll not escape. I can’t say whether 
they were glad or sorry to see me,” El Cojo said with 
a grin. 

“ And what do you propose doing with them ? ” 
Carrajo ! What a question! Why, make them 
pay roundly for their freedom, of course. The old 
fellow is wealthy and can well afford it.” 

“But what will General Escobedo say to such pro- 
ceedings ? Will he think it a matter of course that 
you should seize non-combatants and put them to ran- 
som ? ” I said gently. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


255 


“ Bah! How is the general to know that I am keep- 
ing them prisoners ? My men will not blab, and 
suvoXy you would not betray me.” 

“Assuredly not. You may be at rest on that head. 
But what about Captain, or perhaps I should say Col- 
onel Vallonga?” I asked. 

“ Vallonga! What in the name of Satan has he to 
do with my prisoners? ” demanded El Cojo. 

“He was an ardent admirer of the tall young lady 
before he went over to your camp. In fact I believe 
he had some kind of an agreement with her father that 
she was to become his wife.” 

‘ ‘ Diablo ! That complicates the affair somewhat. If 
Vallonga searches for her he’ll find out where she is. 
And then it will be a match between him and me to 
see who shall have her. Well, let him come on. I’ve 
as much or more influence with Escobedo than he, and 
what he does he must do alone. I need scarcely ask 
if you will be active on my side, Senors?" 

“We’ll help you to down Vallonga with the greatest 
pleasure,” I was quick to affirm, and Teddy nodded a 
grim assent. 

“But a truce to conversation, Senors," cried the 
guerrilla, gayly, as Gabriel and his companion appeared 
in the doorway laden with dishes. “Here comes our 
mid-day meal. ” 

While eating I turned over in my brain a succession of 
schemes to obtain a chance to speak with Miss Rowell, 
and at last, hit upon one that seemed practicable. 
Therefore, as soon as our cigarettes were lighted I 
turned to El Cojo and said: 

“The fact that Vallonga is now an officer in your 
army, Sefior Morales, may cause us a good deal of 
trouble. I say us^ for it would be folly to suppose that 
he will not try to revenge himself on me. I am sure 
of your aid in avoiding assassination. In return I offer 
you mine in rendering my countryman your docile, 
nay, I might say your willing, prisoner. I have thought 
of a plan to make the American contribute to his own 
captivity. If you wish, I will explain it to you.” 

“Proceed, Senor Bellhurst, I am all attention,” El 
Cojo gravely remarked. 

“Then listen ! The Sefior Vernon, I have reason to 


256 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


know, engaged Vallonga to assist him in certain 
schemes of hiS own, and among other inducements 
held out to him the hope of wedding the Senorita Ver- 
non. This promise the American never intended to 
fulfill, and meant to cast Vallonga aside when he had 
used him. But Vallonga has not forgotten and will 
endeavor to hold Vernon to his word. As he is now a 
Colonel in the Liberal army, it will be difficult for the 
old man to evade him. If you will allow me to talk 
with the Senor Vernon I think I will be able to show 
him that it will be to his interest to accept your assist- 
ance in keeping his daughter from becoming Senora 
Vallonga, and in aiding him to leave Mexico with his 
family. Of course I will make him understand that 
he’ll have to pay handsomely, but I’ve no doubt that 
he’d give all he possesses rather than see his only 
daughter wed that black-hearted coward. If you like 
we can go upstairs, see him, and point out the danger 
of his position, and offer to extricate him from his dif- 
ficulties and escort him safe to the Texan border — for a 
‘consideration.’ The money, I need not say, is all to 
go to you.” 

“ Chinga ! A king among ideas ! Simple as cutting 
a throat!” shouted El Cojo, slapping his thigh with a 
report like a pistol shot. “ For Dios ! Once we make 
the old fellow perceive that he must lose his daughter 
without our aid we’ll have no need to keep guard over 
him. There’ll be no fear that we’ll lose him. To the 
floor above and speak to him at once, Senor Bellhurst !” 

“We will all go up together. You and Callahan had 
better wait at the head of the stairs, and leave me to 
explain the idea to the old man alone. When I’ve 
made all clear to him I’ll call you, and you can arrange 
the pecuniary part.of the transaction.” 

“ I’ll do that^ you may be certain,” grinned Morales 
as he rose and led the way out of the library. 

The hall of the Portales House was roomy, and a 
broad staircase led to the second floor. At the top a 
villainous-looking guerillero mounted guard, his car- 
bine held in the hollow of his arm. Three others were 
stationed at as many different doors along the hallway. 

At sight of his chief, the first sentinel fell back and 
saluted. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


257 


“These gentlemen are now officers of the band, 
Sanchez,” El Cojo said, indicating Teddy and myself 
by a wave of the hand. “In future you will treat them 
as such. In which rooms are the prisoners ?” 

“ Gomez stands before the door of the Senor Por- 
tales,” responded Sanchez, promptly. “Sandoval 
keeps watch over the old Americano, and the ladies 
are guarded by Castanos.” 

“Then bid Sandoval admit the Senor Bellhurst to 
his countryman. The Senor Callahan and I will await 
him here.” 

Sandoval threw open the door of the room under his 
charge, I crossed the threshold, and was alone with 
Lucky Vernon. 

He was seated near the window in his shirt-sleeves. 

He did not rise as I entered, but only turned his 
head and eyed me contemptuously. 

“Wouldn’t it be a trifle more polite if you offered 
me a seat, Mr. Vernon ?” I remarked, taking posses- 
sion of an easy-chair and throwing my sombrero on 
the bed. 

The effect of my uncovered countenance upon the 
old man was like an electric shock. He was on his 
feet in an instant, his eyes glaring with hatred and 
his whole frame trembling with rage. 

“ You ! ” he shouted. “You, of all men in the world, 
to be here ! Curse you, the one thought that gave 
me any comfort in the present state of affairs was that 
by this time you were either dead or cooling your 
heels in a Chinaco prison ! And now I see you are 
free, and, by the attire you wear, in evident authority 
among the brigands who hold this house.” 

“Come, come, Mr. Vernon, be a little gentler in 
your mention of my new comrades,” I laughed. 
“You may find that they’re not such bad fellows after 
all. Sit down and compose yourself. I’m here to 
talk business.” 

“You are, eh ? Well, you need not begin, for I’ll 
die before I enter into any business with you. John 
Bellhurst, 1 knew that you had acted in the most 
heartless way with regard to my daughter, and I hated 
you on that score. Your bravery during the siege 
and your conduct on the one occasion where I have seen 


258 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


you tried made me indulge a sneaking sort of admira- 
tion for you in spite of myself. I thought that, per- 
haps, like many men of your birth and education, you 
had one code for men and another for women, and 
that the first was a square and honorable one. But as 
you sit there clad in the dress of a Liberal guerillero^ 

I see that I was mistaken. I beg you to leave me. 

I am sorry to find that an American can be so vile. 
No doubt you aided Lopez in the selling of Queretaro. ” 

“You’re an old man and a prisoner to boot, so I’ll 
let your words pass,” I answered. “Otherwise — but 
that’s neither here nor there. If it will do you any 
good to know it, I fought among the few who stood 
by the Emperor until the flag of truce was hoisted. 
Had it not been for a very fortunate happening I’d 
be among the prisoners at this moment. But I’ve 
no time to tell you about myself. Your own affairs 
claim our attention just now.” 

“ I don’t care to discuss my affairs with you, as I’ve 
told you already,” the old man snarled. “I bid you 
a very good-day.” 

“At least you won’t mind telling me at what date 
you intend Miss Evelyn to marry your friend, Val- 
longa,” I remarked gently. 

Lucky Vernon turned white. 

“ Vallonga ! ” he stammered. “ Evelyn marry Val- 
longa ! I don’t understand you ! ” 

“ Indeed ! yours is a short memory, I fear, my dear 
countryman. Don’t you recollect a certain bargain, 
compact, or call it what you will, between yourself 
and Captain Vallonga, of Miramon’s staff, the terms 
of which were that the said Captain Vallonga, by virtue 
of his exceptional talents at card-playing and well- 
known skill in the duello, was to ruin, disgrace, and 
ultimately kill one John Bellhurst, at that time hold- 
ing Maximilian’s commission as a Major of the staff ? 
And as a reward for the captain’s services he was to 
receive a handsome sum of money, and was promised 
your strong assistance in winning the hand of your 
fair daughter,” I sneered. 

“ You must be the devil in human form ! ” he gasped. 
“ How came you to know all this ? ” 

“ It’s sufficient for you to be aware I am in posses- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


359 


sion of this knowledge, without my telling you how I 
acquired it,” I said coolly. “Now, perhaps you will 
answer my question. When does Miss Evelyn be- 
come Senora Vallonga ? ” 

“Never ! I can answer for that,” the old man re- 
plied in a somewhat more assured tone. “I had no 
intention of keeping that promise, and the disappear- 
ance of Vallonga frees me from the task of evading it.” 

“ And where do you think he is at present ? ” 

“Who knows? as our Mexican friends say. Prob- 
ably if he got through the Liberal lines he assumed 
another name, and carried his villainies to some dis- 
tant part of Mexico,” Lucky Vernon answered care- 
lessly. 

“ You are mistaken, Mr. Vernon. Vallonga is now 
in Queretaro, and has command of one of Escobedo’s 
regiments as full colonel.” 

“ Good God ! ” The old man fell back into his chair 
prostrated. 

“Now you see why I ask when the wedding is to 
be,” I continued calmly. “You may be assured that 
Vallonga will lose no time in calling upon you to re- 
mind you of your agreement. He has much influence 
with General Escobedo, 1 hear, and will be a rather 
nasty person to refuse.” 

C/^lucky Vernon sat up and gazed at me with wild 
eyes, the muscles of his face working convulsively. 

“What you say is true, too true,” he murmured 
hoarsely. “ He will demand Evelyn, and how can I 
save her ? My God ! I cannot give my girl, my dar- 
ling, to that cowardly villain! Bellhurst, if you know 
of any way to outwit him, tell me, in the name of 
Heaven! You played her false once and almost broke 
her heart. For God’s sake repair the wrong you’ve 
done by saving her now.” 

“ If you will be guided by me I promise you that 
you’ll never have the captain for a son-in-law,” I said, 
with a grim smile. “ I have a project for fooling him 
that ought to succeed. But a remark you just made 
has rendered me curious. What do you mean by say- 
ing that I played Evelyn false ? Surely, you must be 
laboring under some mistake.” 

“ No mistake at all, sir, I can affirm. For we both 


26 o 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


saw you with our own eyes. Do you remember th6 
last night you talked with Evelyn at West Point?” 

“ Perfectly well.” 

“After her return to the hotel my daughter walked 
round with me to Battery Knox. As we came back, 

< in passing the gate of Fort Clinton, we saw you within, 
holding a woman — that Mrs. Wrayburn, with whom 
you seemed on such good terms when we first knew 
you — in your arms. Deny it if you can.” 

“So that was the reason for your sudden departure 
and for the letters I received,” I said in a quiet voice. 
“ I understand your hatred for me, and I must confess 
that you had cause for it. But listen to my defense.” 

And in as few words as I could I told the whole story 
of my acquaintance with Mrs. Wrayburn. 

“ Now,” I said in conclusion, “ I don’t claim to have 
acted the most manly part in all this. Still youth and 
its impulsiveness must be some excuse for me. But 
surely my conduct was not vile enough to justify the 
horrible revenge you would have taken. I mean the 
girl Mary Romayne. You understand ? ” 

“Yes,” he said simply, “I understand. As the 
facts were, my action was not warranted. But if you 
were a father and had seen adaughter whom you idolized 
befooled and trifled with by a young sprig of the aris- 
tocracy, as I thought you had done with mine, you 
would know what I felt. Your explanation has made 
me feel much kinder toward you. I shall tell Evelyn, 
and let her judge you. But you say you can save her 
from Vallonga. By what means ? ” 

“Oh, very easily. Mr. Vernon, you are at present 
the guest of Senor Carlos Morales, who has taken this 
house as his headquarters during his stay in Queretaro. 
You may remember the gentleman better if I call him 
‘El Cojo,’ by which title he is known throughout 
Mexico. You have been his guest before, and on 
that occasion I was instrumental in causing you to bid 
farewell to his hospitality. Now, on the contrary, I 
shall do all in my power to urge you to never leave 
him until you and yours are safe on the soil of our own 
country.” 

“ But why ? El Cojo has got us again and it seems 
to me that one fix is about as bad as the other. To be 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


261 


the prisoner of that bandit is about on a par with 
being father-in-law to Vallonga.” 

“ If you’ll only look at the matter from my point of 
view you’ll see that it depends on yourself whether 
you’re a prisoner or not. If I were you I’d send for 
Morales, who is not a bad sort of a fellow, I can assure 
you, and arrange with him to escort yourself, with 
your niece and daughter, out of Mexico. Make him 
understand that all of you must be brought safe to 
some town in Texas, and you’ll be free from any fear 
that Vallonga will get Evelyn away by violence. El 
Cojo will take care of that. Then until we leave, you 
can live here just as you did during the siege, in ease 
and comfort. All you have to do is to turn Morales 
from a captor into a friend. He’s on the best of terms 
with General Escobedo, and you’ll find him a powerful 
protector. ” 

“ By Jove, your scheme is a good one, Bellhurst; 
I’ll try it. Where is the chief?” the old man cried. 

‘‘I’ll send him to you at once,” I said, rising and 
preparing to leave the room. “And above all,” I 
added, pausing at the door, “don’t be niggardly. Gen- 
erous dealing on your part will beget the same from 
him. ” 

I had planned that when El Cojo was once engaged 
with Lucky Vernon I would boldly walk into the room 
where the ladies were confined and demand speech 
with Miss Rowell. But though the chief knew nothing 
of my purpose, and probably would not have opposed 
it if he had known, he requested Teddy and myself to 
descend to the library and await him there, and this 
we were constrained to do. 

We had a long time to wait, but finally El Cojo ap- 
peared. 

“Sefior Bellhurst,” he said, slapping me on the 
shoulder, “you are a valuable acquisition to the band. 
The old man sees matters as you do, and he and I are 
now the best of friends. We may all snap our fingers at 
Vallonga. He will be powerless to attempt anything 
openly, and if he can beat my men in underhand work 
he can cheat the devil himself, which can’t be done.” 

“All is arranged then, I suppose,” I remarked. 

“To the satisfaction of everybody. Sefior Vernon 


262 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


and his daughters will be my guests for the present. 
As soon as I am able to leave Queretaro they will ac- 
company me to Matamoras, whence I will see that they 
get safe across the river. As a proof of it we will all 
dine together this evening. So take some pains with 
your dinner toilette. The Senor Portales has some 
very fair brandy here, I believe. Here are three 
glasses. Have you filled, gentlemen? Then join me 
in a sentiment. ” 

And El Cojo drank to “ Bellhurst El Guerillero.'' 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

A BLONDE AND A BRUNETTE. 

Morales spent the remainder of the afternoon at 
General Escobedo’s headquarters. 

Teddy and I, throwing ourselves on the bed, were 
both soon fast asleep. When we awoke it was nearly 
six o’clock and the voice of one of the guerillero senti- 
nels in the hall was calling to us through the door, 
reminding us that it was time for dinner. 

There was little about our dress that needed atten- 
tion, and our toilettes were made in short order. De- 
scending to the drawing-room, we found there our new 
captain and the Senora Inez (who had entered the city 
in the afternoon), together with four of the officers of 
his band. 

We had scarcely finished the courtesies of intro- 
duction when the Senor Portales appeared with his 
wife and two daughters, and behind them Mr. Vernon, 
Miss Evelyn, and Alys Rowell. Our dinner party be- 
ing now complete, El Cojo offered his arm to the 
Senora Portales, and led the way to the dining-room. 
Teddy was lucky enough to secure Evelyn Vernon, but 
a picturesquely attired young brigand, Corchuelo by 
name, forestalled my designs upon Alys Rowell. The 
Senora Inez, indeed, hardly left me any choice in the 
matter, for she was standing near me, and seemed to 
consider that I should take her in to dinner as a mat- 
ter of course. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


263 


Lucky Vernon had no doubt utilized the afternoon 
hours in explanations, for I observed that both his 
daughter and his niece bowed courteously to me when 
they came into the dining-room. During dinner I 
several times caught the eyes of both fixed upon me in 
evident friendliness. There was something in Alys 
Rowell’s gaze that made my heart beat stormily and 
set my brain in such a ferment that I fear the senora 
found me a very poor table companion. 

At all events as the meal progressed she became 
silent, and it was only when about to rise from the 
table that she said in a low voice: “I wish to speak to 
you alone. Will you manage to walk out into the gar- 
den with me some time during the evening? ” 

“Certainly, Senora^ I shall be delighted,” I re- 
plied. 

“ Then when I call upon you be sure that you re- 
spond promptly,” she whispered, smiling, as she rose 
from the table and followed the other ladies from the 
room. 

A little time over our cigarettes, and I placed my- 
self by Miss Rowell’s side in the drawing-room. 

“ You’ve done just what I wished you would do, ” she 
said, making room for me on the small sofa she was 
occupying. “I’ve wanted to see you so much since 
uncle came to our room this afternoon and told us how 
greatly we had misjudged you. I can’t find words to 
let you know how glad I am that all is satisfactorily 
explained and that you’re not the wicked creature we 
thought you. I hope that you’ll forget anything I 
may have done or said to hurt your feelings. Please 
be kind and say you forgive me,” 

“There is nothing to forgive,” I answered, with a 
look that brought the blood into her soft cheeks. 
“Believe me, I shall lose no chance to show you how 
strongly I appreciate the timely warning I had from 
you.” 

“ That was rather nice of me, wasn’t it? ” she whis- 
pered, naively. “Especially when I thought all the time 
that you were a perfect brute and deserved to be let 
alone. I must say, though, that I didn’t quite like 
the way you acted after I had shown you the danger 
into which your love of excitement was leading you,” 


264 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“No?” I queried. “What did I do that met with 
your disapproval? ” 

“Well, after I had intimated how poor a way yoii 
had of spending your evenings I don’t think it was a 
very good indication of repentance on your part to go 
straight to that horrid Countess’s and gamble as you 
did with Captain Vallonga. You needn’t try to deny 
It, sir; uncle told us all about it the next day.” 

“I don’t intend to deny it,” I said, laughing, as her 
eyes turned to mine, half sparkling with indignation. 
“ So your uncle told you what happened, eh? ” 

“ Yes, he did. And after he had described how you 
fought Captain Vallonga back across the lawn he said: 

‘ Hang it, girls, I hate young Bellhurst, but all the same 
I could hardly keep from cheering him.’ And I own 
that I had somewhat the same feeling myself. I was 
proud of you, Jack, for Vallonga seemed so sure of his 
skill with the sword when he talked with uncle in the 
library.” Her eyes met mine with a look that made 
me feel strong enough to annihilate a million Val- 
longas. 

“Alys, ” I half whispered, unsteadily, “it’s too 
close for comfort in this room, don’t you think? 
Let’s go out upon the veranda or into the garden.” 

“No, sir; we’ll do no such thing, if you please. 
The room is perfect, and I’m too comfortable to stir. 
Now, tell me how it is I find you hand in glove with 
the men you were lately fighting. Uncle couldn't ex- 
plain that, for he said you fought until the Imperial 
flag was lowered. How did it happen? ” 

“Simply out of my valuable faculty for making 
friends,” I rejoined, and went on to tell her of the 
bonds between El Cojo and myself, and how that chief 
had acted, concluding: “You see, it pays to have 
acquaintances among all kinds of people.” 

“Especially when you’re apt to be captured by 
them,” Alys laughed. “Well, it’s all very fine, and 
you do look very well in those yellow clothes. But I 
think I like you better in uniform.” 

“ If you say so I’ll go and change. It will only en- 
tail the risk of being shot by the first Chinaco who 
sets eyes on me, and so long as you are happy I shan’t 
mind that.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


265 


“Now don’t begin chaffing, for I want to speak of 
serious things. I suppose after what has happened 
you can see how very awkward it will be for both 
the first time you and Evelyn find yourselves alone 
together. What do you intend to say to her? Will 
you simply ignore the past? Don’t you think that it 
would be best for both to go back to your old footing 
as a matter of course? ” 

“What! ” I said so sharply that Alys quickly whis- 
pered, “Be careful!” 

“ I want to know what you are going to do,” the 
girl reiterated. “You are going back to Evelyn just 
as if nothing had ever come between you, aren’t you? 
and — and both of you are going to be very happy.” 

The words were calmly and clearly spoken, but I 
saw the small, red mouth quiver, though the lips im- 
mediately composed themselves. 

“The course you assume I shall take might be 
tempting to some people, but for me it has no charm, 
Alys,” I said decidedly. “Your cousin need have no 
fear of an embarrassing scene with me, for I shall take 
care that we never meet alone.” 

“ But why? Don’t you want to make it up with her 
and have matters as they were before? I am sure that 
she — but never mind what I am sure of. Don’t you 
care for Evelyn any more. Jack Bellhurst? ” 

“Evelyn never loved me,” I answered. “That she 
could throw me over so easily proved that to me be- 
yond doubt.” 

“But you loved her — perhaps you love her still. 
And if you do, I don’t think you would find it impos- 
sible to win her back.” 

“ Frankly, Alys, I shall not make the trial. I have 
known for some time that I never really loved Evelyn 
Vernon. Since I came to Mexico I have learned what 
love means in the fullest sense of the word.” 

“You mean that since you’ve been in this country 
you’ve met a women that you truly love, and all your 
feeling for Evelyn has been forgotten ? ” 

The girl’s face was very pale as she put her question, 
and one of the little hands that lay in her lap quickly 
closed upon the other, but her eyes met mine steadily 
and did not fall. 


266 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“You’ve put the matter correctly,” I said with a 
smile. “There is a woman here in Mexico whom I 
am determined to win for my wife. If I fail I shall 
never marry, for I have sworn to love her throughout 
Eternity.” 

“ Some soft-eyed seiiorita with winning Spanish 
manners, I suppose,” Alys said, with the nearest ap- 
proach to a sneer she was capable of assuming. 
“ That’s all very nice for you and for her, but what is 
Evelyn to do ? ” 

“Oh, she’ll not waste any sorrow over me,” I 
laughed. “ She’ll always have plenty to choose from. 
Perhaps she’ll console herself with — ” 

‘ ‘ El Colonel Vallonga, ” Gabriel’s voice rang through 
the room, as he opened the door and ushered in that 
personage. 

The name came as a conclusion to my remark in 
such a pat way that I was almost startled. 

“ Thunder ! ” I muttered to myself. “ How devil- 
ish like a prophecy ! ” 

Meanwhile my quondam friend Vallonga had walked 
smilingly up to the Sehor Portales. He was clad in 
the full-dress of a colonel in the Liberal forces, and I 
must confess that he looked a gallant soldier. 

“ I trust that I find you well, dear Seiior^ and suf- 
fering no inconvenience from the temporary occupa- 
tion of your house by our brave troops,” he said in 
his most effective manner. “ I would have come to 
offer my assistance in securing your safety; but the 
knowledge that you were under the protection of 
Colonel Morales set my mind at ease. You could 
have no better friend than that gallant officer, and no 
lovelier guest than his charming wife.” This last 
with a bow of homage to the Senora Inez, who re- 
turned it with a frigid bend of the neck. 

“ And my esteemed friend, the Senor Vernon, how 
does he find himself to-night ? ” Vallonga resumed. 
“If he will find me the time I have some words to say 
to him in private, presently, and the fair Senorita 
Evelyn — ” 

As he glanced round the room in search of her his 
eyes met mine. For an instant he stood as if carved 
in marble. Then his hand was thrust quickly into 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


267 


the breast of his uniform as he screamed: Hijo del 
demo7iio ! El Major Bellhurst!" 

At the same moment the voice of El Cojo sounded 
clear and hard. 

“Halt! Colonel! At the first movement you make 
to draw your weapon I will strew the carpet with your 
brains! ” 

The ugly black muzzle of a Colt’s revolver looked 
Vallonga in the face. 

“ I am amazed at your assurance in coming here,” 
Morales went on. “ All of the ladies and gentlemen 
present know you as a branded cheat and coward. In 
the name of Senor Portales and on my own authority 
I request that you will leave the house at once and 
discontinue all further visits. You have heard my 
words, now go! ” 

Vallonga’s hand dropped weaponless by his side as 
guerillero was speaking, and he walked toward the 
door, turning from us the countenance of a demon. 
At the threshold he stopped and faced us once more. 

“So this is why my search through the prisons this 
afternoon was unavailing,” he hissed. “ I thought to 
find you there, dogs of Americanos^ and failing con- 
cluded that death had forestalled me. But I know 
where you are now! You had better pray, if you can 
recall any prayers, for your hours are numbered. I 
go to General Escobedo.” 

“You may as well spare yourself the trouble,” El 
Cojo answered, sweetly. “The General fully under- 
stands the position of Senors Bellhurst and Callahan. 
I explained all to him this afternoon. If you do not 
leave at once, I will have you kicked out. Hola ! 
Sanchez, Gabriel, Sandoval!” 

There was a rush of feet in the hall, and several of 
ihe guerillej os appeared behind Vallonga. 

“ See to it that yonder fellow departs from the house 
at once. Conduct him to the street. If he objects, 
you can wipe your botas on him.” 

Two of them grasped Vallonga with no gentle hands, 
and he was hustled out of our view. 

Amid the confusion the Senora Inez came to me. 
We passed out through the window into the cooler air 
outside. 


268 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


The Sehor Portales had an ample garden in the 
rear of his dwelling, and at intervals along the care- 
fully kept paths, small benches stood, tempting alike 
the weary and the sentimentally disposed. On one of 
these, placed in a spot plainly to be seen from the room 
we had just left and in the full rays of the moon, the 
sehora sat down and motioned me to do likewise. 

‘‘ It is some time since we last met, Senor Juan,” 
she began. “ Do you remember what we talked of in 
the posada ?’ 

“Assuredly, Senora Morales, you give me credit for 
a slight memory,” I answered, gallantly. 

“Then, Senor Juan, I beseech you, answer me 
frankly: What course do you intend to follow to ex- 
tricate yourself from your present perilous position ?” 
Inez’s tone was sad. 

‘ ‘ Perilous, Senora. Surely, you have no idea that 
I am in any danger now.” 

“ Indeed you are, in greater danger than you were 
before. My poor boy, is it possible that you think 
yourself safe ? ” she returned. “ Any moment may see 
you arrested and thrown into a miserable dungeon 
along with the rest, to leave it only for the fire of a 
platoon, or slavery in the mines until you die! You 
in danger! Vaya.'” 

“With your husband’s aid I hope to escape arrest, 
Senora,'' 1 replied calmly. “I’ve thought of all that 
you say, and talked it over with your husband, and it 
seemed to both of us that my safest plan is to stick 
to him until he can get me out of Mexico.” 

“Remain with Carlos! Dios de mi alma! Do you 
know that it may be weeks before he can leave Quere- 
taro ? All this time you will be open to Vallonga’s at- 
tempts.” 

“ Certainly, I have thought of that. But what would 
you have me do? ” 

“ I would have you leave here this very night,” she 
said, quickly. “You and your friend can bes many 
miles to the north by daylight. I will have your horses 
ready for you at the corner of the street. In the flush 
of victory no watchful guard will be kept; it will be 
easy to pass the sentinels. You have plenty of money. 
If you have not, I will supply all that is needed. Do 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 269 

"what I ask, Juan, and by this time to-morrow we shall 
ibe far beyond fear of pursuit. ” 

I echoed. 

“Yes, For I wish to go with you. lamtiredof 
this wretched, wandering life, and sick of the scenes 
•of violence lam continually forced to witness. I have 
borne it only because of my child, and now that she is 
dead I feel no desire to remain with Carlos Morales. I 
have enough money to live quietly and inexpensively 
for some time. You can show me some part of your 
great United States where I may be safe.” 

“Hush! Senora ! I must not listen to you,” I 
ejaculated. “ What you ask I cannot grant you. I 
must remain in Queretaro. ” 

“I see no necessity for your stay. Maximiliano is 
lost beyond hope. You must recognize that fact your- 
self. ” 

“ I know the Empire is a thing of the past; that I 
have fought my last battle as a soldier of the Emperor. 
But other reasons make my stay imperative,” I replied. 
“The ladies of my country, who are really your hus- 
band’s prisoners, how can I leave them with no one to 
lean upon but that old man?” 

The Senora did not answer my question. I bent 
forward to look into her face, but her eyes were fixed 
•on the ground. Her bosom was heaving stormily. It 
iseemed as if some tremendous struggle were taking 
place in her mind. 

For full five minutes she sat thus. When she spoke 
;at last it was in broken and hesitating accents. 

“So it is for them you stay, then? Which one is it, 
I wonder? The tall, proud woman, or the golden- 
haired child? ” Then she raised her eyes and looked 
full at me. “ Senor Juan, as you are a gentleman, 
answer me one question truly. Trust me, I shall never 
reveal what you say.” 

“ On the faith of a gentleman I will answer you if I 
can do so. ” 

“Do you love either one of the ladies whom you 
wish to stay and protect? ” 

Her words were low and firmly spoken, but there 
was agony in her tones. 

“ Yes,” I said, taking her hand in mine. ^'‘Ydo love 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


270 

one of them with all my heart. Senora, I confide my 
secret to you. I love one of those women madly, 
passionately, devotedly. If she does not become my 
wife no other woman ever shall. My heart is hers and 
hers alone, and nothing can ever alter that. ” 

Inez pressed my fingers, and then gently withdrew 
her hand. The fan lying in her lap displaced by the 
action, fell to the ground. I bent quickly forward to 
pick it up. 

At that moment there was a bright flash from a 
cluster of plants directly before us, the spiteful report 
of a revolver rang through the garden. Had it not 
been for my change of position the bullet must have 
passed through my body. 

I am quick to act. With a mighty bound I was 
across the open space, through the protecting screen 
of bushes and face to face with a serape-shrouded 
Mexican, who was by this time ready to repeat his 
shot. He shoved his weapon into my face, but before 
he could fire I seized his wrist with my left hand and 
forced his arm upward and backward, bringing him 
close to me. The pistol went off in the struggle, but 
the bullet sought the stars. A second later I saw a 
murderous looking blade gleam in his left hand. It 
was never driven home, for with all my force I planted 
my right fist on his throat, directly over his “Adam’s 
apple.” Knife and revolver fell together on the moon- 
lit turf as the man sunk in a huddled mass at my feet. 
I bent over him, but he did not stir. I turned his face 
to the moonlight. 

It was a countenance I had never seen before. 
From the heavily moustached lips a stream of blood 
was welling over the freshly shaven chin. 

As I straightened up I saw that El Cojo was stand- 
ing beside me. Startled by the shots he had rushed 
into the garden, followed by the other gentlemen from 
the drawing-room. Behind them gathered a crowd 
composed of members of Morales’ band, silent but on 
the alert, with their hands on their ready weapons. 

The chief stood for a few seconds thoughtfully 
twisting his moustaches as he viewed the fallen man in 
the moonlight. 

“I hit him with my fist,” I said in explanation. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


271 


For Dios!'' Then he turned to me and said in 
polite, unmoved accents: 

“Accept my congratulations on your lucky escape, 
Senor Bellhurst. You may count it as barely short of 
miraculous, for that fellow was never known to miss 
with a revolver. How it is that you’re standing here 
alive I can’t conceive, for I heard two shots and he 
must have fired them both, as I can see no bullet put 
an end to his life. For Dios ! Our friend Vallonga 
didn’t allow the grass to grow under his feet, eh ? ” 

“You know this man, then?” I demanded, as he 
finished speaking. 

“Should you not rather say ‘ knew ' El Cojo cor- 
rected, smiling. “Any one can see with half an eye 
that the gentleman’s tense should be the past. Diablo! 
Your blow has broken his neck.” 

“You are sure ? ” 

“ Certain ! ” 

“But who was he, and what makes you mention 
Vallonga? Do you think the fellow sought my life by 
his bidding? ” I asked, hurriedly. 

“ I don’t think so. I’m positive that he did,” 
affirmed El Cojo. “ This fellow was a sergeant of the 
Cazadores de Galeano, and a well-known character in 
our army. He was a deadly shot with the pistol, an 
expert with the knife, and had the reputation of being 
a bravo who would do anything for hire. Vallonga 
must have met him after being expelled from the 
house, and probably struck a bargain with him to 
dispose of you at. once.” 

“Get that carrion under the ground as soon as 
possible,” El Cojo continued, addressing his fol- 
lowers. “ He’ll not be sought for, we can reckon on 
that.” 

Passing his arm through mine. we went back through 
the garden to the drawing-room. 

Here, over champagne and cigarettes, I related my 
adventure to an interested audience. The Senora 
Inez also had her tale to tell, and it was late in the 
night before we ceased discussing Vallonga’s first 
move in the game for life or death that was now 
being played between us, for no one doubted for a 
moment that he was the instigator of the attempt 


272 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


made by the sergeant of the Cazadores to put a hole 
through me. 

Frequently, as the talk went on, I stole swift glances 
at Alys Rowell. But, though she was pale, she main- 
tained her composure admirably. Indeed, I could 
not be sure that she cared much whether I were dead 
or alive. I got no further opportunity for speaking 
with her that night, and about midnight our little 
gathering broke up. 

“Jack,” Teddy said slowly, after we were in our 
room and making ready for bed, “take it all in all, 
look at it from every point of view, and then confess 
that it’s a hell of a note. Did ye ever hear of any- 
thing so full of fun ? ” 

“I must confess I don’t see the comical side of the 
matter,” I said rather ruefully, for the gravity of our 
position was forcing itself more and more strongly 
upon my mind. 

“Ye don’t! Never mind, there’s more fun in store 
for us than we’ll be able to find if we look elsewhere 
tills doomsday,” grinned my chum. 

“ Here’s a bit of it,” he whispered. 

Looking up I saw old Vernon entering cautiously. 
Closing the door behind him, he drew a chair forward, 
until he was between us and close enough to touch 
both of us, lighted a big cigar, and went straight to 
the point of the matter he had in mind. 

“I’ve come to you boys to have a straight-for- 
ward talk with you,” the old man said earnestly. “ In 
the first place, I want you to tell me frankly whether I 
am to consider you as friends or enemies. What do 
you say, John Bellhurst ? Does the peril in which my 
daughter and niece are placed move you to aid them, 
or will the niemory of the injuries I have endeavored 
to inflict on you prevent any feelings of pity for their 
condition ? ” 

“Miss Vernon and Miss Rowell have no firmer friend 
in the world than I, Mr. Vernon,” I said sincerely. 
“Be sure of one thing. I’ll stand by them to the last, 
and before a hair of their heads is injured Jack Bell- 
hurst will be dead.” 

“And you, Mr. Callahan?” The old fellow’s eyes 
turned to Teddy. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


273 


“Jack spoke for both,” he answered briefly. “At 
the same time ye’ll mind that though we’ll do our best 
for ye, and for the ladies, ’tis all for their sakes. 
But ’til ye’re out of this cursed country I’m with ye 
to the death.” 

The old man smiled grimly and puffed hard at his 
cigar. “Thank you both,” he said quietly after blow- 
ing out a cloud of smoke. “I know you mean what 
you say, and I couldn’t have better men on my side. 
Now in regard to the way things stand between El Cojo 
and myself. Tell me plainly, do you think the chief 
will keep his promise? ” 

‘ ‘ That I can’t say until I know what you have agreed 
upon,” I replied. 

“He is to conduct me, with Evelyn and Alys, safe 
to Matamoras. There I am to pay him twenty-five 
thousand dollars, on receipt of which he will convey 
us across the Rio Grande and set us at liberty.” 

“ Pretty good thing for him, I should say,” I com- 
mented. ‘‘ Yes, I have no doubt that Morales will 
deal honorably with you. He has every reason in the 
world for playing a square game.” 

“ But do you think that he will be able to protect 
Evelyn from Vallonga? The villain is wild about her 
and will not give her up without a fight. ” 

“I know both men, Mr. Vernon, and I’d a deal 
rather have Vallonga for an enemy than El Cojo. 
There are few more dangerous men, or I will go so far 
as to say there is no more dangerous man in Mexico 
than Carlos Morales.” 

“And there you touch upon the point that gives me 
most uneasiness,” the old man broke out eagerly. 

“You both know how beautiful and talented my 
girls are, and how most men admire them. What if 
Morales should be affected as other men have been, 
and desire to have one or both of them for his own? 
What could I do were such a thing to come to pass? ” 

“ That would make the affair a bit worse, ” I mut- 
tered. “You may set your mind at rest, though. 
Morales shall never have either Evelyn Vernon or 
Alys Rowell. There are two men right here who will 
contract to start a lead mine in El Cojo’s body if he 
even hints at such a thing, aren’t there, Teddy? ” 


274 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ There are! ” Teddy asserted vigorously. 

“ But if you do that the rest of the band will kill 
you. And then what will become of my poor girls? ” 

A thought flashed across me quick as lightning. 
Certain words of Fabian Baraja rang in my brain, the 
arguments he had urged upon me when he tempted me 
to desert the Imperial cause and turn guerillero. 

“ Perhaps we’ll not be all alone if it comes to fight- 
ing,” I said quickly. “ I’ve just had an idea that may 
bring us no end of help. I can tell you all about it, I 
think, in a day or so, but for the present I can’t be 
certain what I may depend on, and therefore I’ll keep 
quiet. Now I propose that we let matters rest until 
I’ve found out what I want to know.” 

I rose as I spoke, and Teddy was on his feet imme- 
diately. 

“One more word,” Lucky Vernon said, eyeing me 
closely. “John Bellhurst, I am going to ask you a 
plain, blunt question. Have you still any idea of mar- 
rying my daughter, Evelyn ?” 

“ No,” I said, shortly, in tones as brutally frank as 
the old man’s own. 

He looked down at the carpet for a few seconds, 
and then rose from his chair, and met my eye firmly. 

“I am glad you have not. I will tell you candidly 
that I would not like you for a son-in-law. You have 
a great deal in you that I admire, but you are not my 
kind. And now I wish to tell you that I’m sorry for 
all I've done against you.” 

“Isn’t this a rather sudden conversion, Mr. Ver- 
non ?” I said, smiling. “ Are you sure that your pres- 
ent unpleasant dilemma has not something to do with 
what you say ?” 

“No, no, I am sincere in my regret. Will you not 
shake hands ?” he persisted 

“Mr. Vernon, you have heard my friend and myself 
promise to stand by you in your danger. You know 
that we will keep our words, and that should satisfy 
you. As for shaking hands with you, I beg you to ex- 
cuse me. You might fail to understand my reas.ons, 
so I won’t trouble you with them. I cannot take your 
hand. That is all.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


275 


CHAPTER XXX. 

“viva el emperador! ” 

On the second day after this I was able to take the 
promised step for the safety of Evelyn and Alys. 

Immediately after breakfast El Cojo led me aside, 
and whispered : “You may now feel somewhat safer. 
Vallonga has left the city.” 

I heaved a sigh of satisfaction. “That’s good news, 
at all events,” I said heartily. “When did he go ? ” 

“He passed through the Garita de Mexico at day- 
break, bound for the army of General Diaz, to whom 
he carries dispatches. I may say that I myself was 
somewhat instrumental in getting him assigned to that 
duty, for I wanted him out of Quer^taro both on your 
account and my own. So I spoke to General Esco- 
bedo, and he consented to oblige me. I hardly 
thought he’d move so promptly in the matter, though,” 
observed El Cojo. 

“ You are in the General Escobedo’s good books, it 
is evident,” I remarked. 

“He and I know each other, and there is little that 
he refuses me ordinarily,” El Cojo said, somewhat 
dryly. “I had perhaps more difficulty in obtaining his 
permission for the enrollment of yourself and Senor 
Callahan as members of my troop than I have ever 
experienced before. You may be glad that I suc- 
ceeded. Forty of your officers were executed yester- 
day — stood up against a corral wall, and shot or 
spitted with lances. ” 

“Shameful! This country of yours seems to be a 
land of barbarians.” Then I asked anxiously, “And 
where is the Emperor ? ” 

“Oh, we have Maximiliano safe in the Cruz, and 
with him Mejia, Miramon, Castillo, and Salm-Salm,” 
said the chief. “They were our first haul of notable 
fish. Yesterday a proclamation was published notify- 
ing all Imperial military and civil officers to report 
within twenty-four hours, on pain of being shot without 
trial if captured. That brought in Escobar, Casanova, 
Valdez, Moret, and Aguirre. They say that Arellano, 


276 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Gutierez, and Don Carlos Miramon managed to get 
away, and are beyond our reach. But it is almost cer- 
tain that Mendez is still hiding in the city.” 

“I hope to Heaven that he’ll not be discovered!” 
was my frankly expressed wish. 

“If he is in Queretaro he has not one chance in a 
million. An old acquaintance of yours is busying 
himself about the general’s capture. As he has 
especial reasons for wishing the death of Mendez I 
fancy Don Ramon’s time on earth will be short. I 
speak of that excellent Fabian Baraja.” 

“ Baraja’s here too, is he,” I said as carelessly as I 
could. “How do you and he stand, after that little 
episode of the mountain camp ? ” 

“ Oh, we’re on fairly good terms,” El Cojo answered 
with a laugh. “He helped in my escape, you may 
recollect, and I put that down as an offset to his hav- 
ing guided you.” 

“If you’re not on bad terms, then, I wish you’d 
manage to get Baraja to come around here some day 
and make him talk for my benefit,” I suggested. 
“The fellow interested me and I’d be glad to have 
him tell some of his adventures. Til wager he’s had 
an eventful career.” 

“Certainly, I’d be glad to oblige you. I’ll bring 
Baraja around at the first opportunity, ” El Cojo agreed. 

Despite the chief’s promise, it was not until the 
afternoon of the nineteenth of May that it was fulfilled. 
Morales went to headquarters after lunch and when he 
returned Baraja was with him. 

The amiable Fabian seemed glad to see Teddy and 
me, and was effusive in the expression of his satisfac- 
tion at our escape from death or imprisonment. 

“You’ve had better luck than some of our friends, 
my Major,” he remarked as he surveyed me. “It’s 
not amiss to be soft-hearted once in a while, eh? 
Suppose you had stood our friend Senor Morales up in 
front of your firing party along with the rest of your 
prisoners, out there in the mountains. The Republic 
would either be supporting you now, or have furnished 
you permanent lodgings underground, l^iva merced!'* 

“1 trust you'll remember that, too, Baraja, and 
show some forbearance at the .present time^” I sug- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


277 


gested. “The chief tells me that you are particu- 
larly active in the search for General Mendez. Why 
can’t you profit by my case and give over your hunt 
for Don Ramon? ” 

“As to quitting my search for him, Major, that is 
done already,’* Fabian replied, smiling the same om- 
inous smile. “ I ended my efforts to find Don Ramon 
last night, and I swear to you that I will never pursue 
him again.” 

“Then with you out of the hunt Mendez has still 
some chance,” I began, but El Cojo cut short my 
hopeful words. 

“The rascal is playing with you, Senor Juan,” he 
said shortly. “Tell him the truth at once, Baraja, and 
stop your cursed gloating. No one here is glad of 
what’s happened except yourself.” 

“ Don’t be angry, Senor Morales,” Fabian hastened 
to say in a cringing tone, for familiarly as he spoke of 
him one could see that he had the utmost respect for 
El Cojo. “Of course I’ll do as you wish at once. 
Senor Bellhurst, you need worry no longer concerning 
General Mendez. He was executed this morning.” 

As the hardened bandit spoke I stared at him in 
wide-eyed unbelief. 

“General Mendez executed! You must be misin- 
formed. Why, up to yesterday he was still at large! ” 

“Aye, up to yesterday, ” sneered Baraja. “But 
there was a certain Fabian Baraja on his track up to 
yesterday, too, and this Fabian Baraja happened to 
recognize Don Ramon’s body-servant purchasing some 
provisions at a shop in the Calle Miraflores. I knew 
the man of old,” he continued, dropping his informal 
mode of speech, “and though he tried to put me off, 
it was useless. I offered him choice between a hand- 
ful of pesos and a rope. So like a wise man he took 
the pesos. I got a squad of Escobedo’s guards and 
we gobbled up Don Ramon last night without the 
least trouble.” 

“But how came his death to follow so closely on 
his capture ? ” 

“ He did not come in and surrender inside of the 
twenty-four hours named by General Escobedo in his 
proclamation, Senor,'" Baraja reminded me. “Thus 


278 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


he forfeited all right to a trial and had to suffer the 
consequences. Though to speak the truth a trial 
would have made no difference in Don Ramon’s case. 
He had the Generals Salazar and Arteaga of the Re- 
publican forces shot when they fell into his hands, and 
he knew better than to expect mercy.” 

“What became of the general’s body?” I asked, 
anxiously, for I feared that his cruel conquerors had 
left the remains of the gallant little Indian a prey to 
the dogs of Queretaro. 

“ Oh, that was given to Madame Mendez, by order 
of General Escobedo,” Morales replied. “General 
Mendez will not lack Christian burial and a stone 
above his grave. And it’s fitting that he should have 
both, for the land of Mexico never saw a braver 
warrior.” 

“ Amen to that ! ” said Teddy Callahan, in a broken 
voice. Through all the recital he had remained silent, 
leaning back in his chair with closed eyes. But two 
big tears had forced themselves from under his eye- 
lashes, and were rolling down his cheeks. 

At this moment a knock was heard at the door, and 
on opening it, one of the guerilleros was discovered, 
who requested El Cojo to come at once to the Senora 
Inez. Promising to return immediately, the chief left 
the library. 

No sooner was he gone than I drew Baraja toward 
iTie, saying in low tones : “ You may remember an oc- 
casion in my room when you sought to dazzle me with 
prophecies of what I might accomplish at the head of 
a guerrilla band.” 

The wretch gave a smothered chuckle as he replied 
in a whisper: “Perfectly, Major. I rather guessed 
El Cojo had fallen into a little trap when he said you’d 
like to hear some of my adventures. And I may say, 
also, that I am still holding the same opinions.” 

“ You spoke to me then of certain men now serving 
with El Cojo as ready to follow a new leader in pref- 
erence to their present chief. ” My voice was also low. 

“I can name a dozen without hesitation. Major. 
“What of it?” 

“Just this. I am in the power of Morales, as you 
know without my telling you. At any moment a chance 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 279 

word or action may turn him from a friend into an 
enemy. I want to make sure of some friends in case 
of need, and desire, with your aid, to form a party of 
my own. If you will talk with these discontented 
fellows you’ve spoken to me about, I’ve no doubt you 
can persuade them to side in with me if it comes to a 
row. You can tell them whatever you wish ; even hold 
out the idea that we are forming a new band. Any- 
thing goes that will make them stand by me until I 
reach Texas. ” 

Baraja knitted his brows in thought for a few sec- 
onds. Then his face cleared, and, leaning forward 
with an indescribably roguish leer, he drawled slowly, 
regarding me meanwhile through half-closed eyes: 

“ Major, how much? ” 

“Five hundred pesos d’oro.” 

“Too little. Major, for I shall have to spend some of 
it in the beginning. Try again.” 

“A thousand, then, and that’s my highest price. 
I’m unable to give more, and if you don’t take that 
I’ll have to rely on the strength of my friend and my- 
self against El Cojo,” I said, firmly. 

“Done, for a thousand. I’ll set to work this very 
night, and before the week is out you’ll have more 
friends among El Cojo’s followers than you can count 
on the fingers of both hands. Have the money 
ready for me, and when I want it I’ll call for it.” 

“The gold shall be yours when you have given me 
proofs that you have earned it.” 

“ Of course. We’ve dealt with each other before. 
Major. But now talk of other matters; Morales 
is due at any moment. ” Then he cried out suddenly — 
for El Cojo was coming in : 

“ Before I go I’ll pay my respects to the Senor Por- 
tales’s brandy. Fill your glasses and join in the 
sentiment I propose. I drink — to General Don 
Ramon Mendez ! ” 

And the wretch toasted his victim of the morning, 
while Teddy and I sat staring at him, grimly deter- 
mined on a thorough reckoning when we had made 
our use of -Fabian Baraja. 

Vallonga had left Queretaro, but I did not, on this 
account, relax my watchfulness. My enemy might 


2^0 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


have departed only to throw me off my guard, and to 
take steps to insure deadlier work on his next attempt. 
By El Cojo’s advice I kept myself a prisoner in the 
Portales mansion, never leaving the shelter of its 
friendly walls. Teddy Callahan was constantly with 
me and the chief spent a good part of his time in our 
society. As the days went by without incident, how- 
ever, and no fresh assault on my life was made, the 
enforced restraint upon my liberty began to grow 
irksome. 

It was ungrateful of me, and I confess it. I was 
comfortably lodged and my food was the best the city 
could afford. None of the luxuries of life were wanting 
to me. The society of beautiful and cultivated wom- 
en was also ours; we were free to pass as much time 
with the ladies as we chose, and the Senora Inez, Evelyn 
Vernon, and Alys Rowell were charming companions. 

How different was our lot from that of our late com- 
panions in arms! 

For the treatment given to the hapless prisoners by 
the Liberal army was brutal and despicable beyond be- 
lief. The private soldiers were herded together and 
crowded so as to occupy the least possible space. So 
sparingly were they fed that these miserable men wel- 
comed death gladly, as a blessed deliverance from the 
horrible pangs of starvation. 

Four hundred Imperial officers of all ranks, from 
colonels to lieutenants, were quartered in the church 
of the Cruz, and the Liberals came in crowds to stare 
at them. Without a spark of generous feeling in their 
hearts, the Chinaco officers took delight in bringing 
home the hopelessness and peril of their situation to 
the brave men whom treachery had placed in Escobe- 
do’s power. 

The Emperor, Mejia, Miramon, and the other offi- 
cers of high rank were lodged in the convent of the 
Capuchins, being transferred to this place on the twen- 
ty-second of May. They were kept under close sur- 
veillance, but fared rather better than the inferior offi- 
cers. The Princess Salm-Salm had come to Quere- 
taro on the twentieth of May, and was allowed to visit 
her husband daily, bringing numberless small luxuries 
to him and his fellow-prisoners. She also made stren- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


281 


uous endeavors to persuade General Escobedo to as- 
sign a separate and comfortable house to the captive 
Maximilian, but though she received many promises, 
her request was never granted. 

These facts I learned weeks after they occurred, for 
Carlos Morales had become decidedly reticent concern- 
ing the progress of events in Queretaro, and neither 
from him nor from any of the gue7'illeros I met about 
the house could I obtain any information. The inva- 
riable Quien sabe ?" spoken with ceremonious polite- 
ness, met every question, and so far as the fate of my 
late sovereign was concerned, I might as well have 
been in China. 

On the evening of the last day of May, the chief at 
length laid aside his reserve. He was alone with Teddy 
and me in the library, where we were having our usual 
good-night smoke. We had been talking of the merits 
of a new charger Morales had brought into the patio 
for us to inspect that afternoon. Callahan, who ad- 
mired the horse greatly, had been gradually leading up 
to a proposal for his purchase. Before he had come 
to the point, El Cojo rose from his chair, walked to 
the door and opened it, making sure there were 
no listeners in the hall, then locked it securely, and 
came back to his seat. 

“ I can see the end to which your remarks are tend- 
ing, Senor Callahan, but you may as well spare your- 
self the trouble of going further,” he said. “The 
horse is not for sale, at least not just now. I* am 
about to confide to you gentlemen the use to which I 
hope to put the animal. But ere I do so I must ask 
you to promise to say nothing of what I tell you. I 
have your words? ” 

We bowed and waited. 

El Cojo smoked meditatively for a few seconds and 
then said a bruptly : '‘'’Caballeros, you have both served 
Maximiliano, and served him well. Would you serve 
him again if the chance were given you? ” 

“You must speak more plainly, ” I replied as the 
chief stopped for an answer. 

“What I say is clear enough. If the Austrian 
were afield again, with another army, would you join 
him and fight for his throne?” 


282 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ You can bet that we’d do that same. If the Em- 
peror’s flag were raised he’d have us with him in the 
wink of an eye. Wouldn’t he, Jack? ” Teddy said, his 
eyes flashing. 

“I see you agree with your friend and would will- 
ingly peril your life in the Imperial cause,” observed 
El Cojo. “Well, then, if you would do that I don’t 
doubt that you’d be as quick to help the Emperor to 
a situation where he’d be able to gather his followers 
about him once more. In plain terms, will you two 
gentlemen aid Maximiliano to escape from Queretaro 
and gain the Sierra Gorda? ” 

The abruptness of the guerrilla’s question almost de- 
prived me of the power to speak. Teddy drew a long 
breath and sent it out again in a prolonged whistle. 

“ So that’s the way the land lies ! ” he ejaculated. 
“Things have come to this turn, eh ? The Emperor 
is wishing for the air of the mountains again. ’Tis 
meself that is of the opinion that the change will do 
his health no end of good. Help him to leave ? 
Sure ” 

“Hold on a bit, old man, go slow,” I interposed. 
“Wait until we hear all there is to tell. Continue, if 
you please, Senor Morales.” 

“Matters stand thus with the Emperor,” El Cojo 
said slowly. “When he surrendered it was with the 
understanding that he and those with him were to be 
treated as prisoners of war. Orders have come from 
the Supreme Government at San Luis Potosi directing 
that the terms of the surrender shall not be carried 
out. Maximiliano will be tried by court-martial. 
The other generals will have the same treatment. 
Their death is resolved upon, and they know it. So 
they propose to seek safety in flight. Salm-Salm is 
the prime mover in the affair. He has bought over 
three of the ofiicers who will be on guard at the Capu- 
chins on the night of June second, and the escape will 
be effected then. One of the officers who has taken 
Salm-Salm’s gold is a close friend of my own. He 
was to have twenty-five mounted men who will guard 
the fugitives to the Sierra Gorda, but he found that 
his own troopers could not be relied upon. Knowing 
the excellent control I have over my rascals he applied 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


2S3 


to me. My fellows would charge into hell without a 
question if I gave the word, and I accepted his pro- 
posals at once. I have men enough, it is true, but the 
aid of two such soldiers as yourselves would be most 
welcome. ” 

“We would be eager to join in the enterprise, I 
assure you, Senor Morales,” 1 answered. “ But we 
have giyen our words to the Senor Vernon, our coun- 
tryman, that we will not leave him and his until they 
are beyond the Mexican borders. You see how we 
are placed.” 

“That need not prevent,” El Cojo rejoined eagerly. 
“ We can arrange all that with ease. My troop will 
leave Queretaro for the north on the morning of June 
third. They will proceed slowly, and we, having left 
the Emperor and his friends safe in the Sierra, can 
join them before the end of the second day. Come 
with me, Sehors^ your presence will reassure the Em- 
peror, and should there be need to fight you will be 
worth a dozen men to us. ” 

“What do you think about it, Teddy?” I asked, 
doubtfully; but there was hardly need of the question, 
for my friend’s compressed mouth and sparkling eyes 
told in advance that he had entered heart and soul into 
the scheme. 

“We’ve got to help the Emperor in any way we 
can, Jack,” he said, firmly. “He’s a brave and gal- 
lant gentleman, and these filthy wretches of Liberals 
shan’t murder him if we can prevent it. I’d never be 
able to forgive myself if he cheated them, and we 
hadn’t a finger in the pie. I think Senor Morales has 
the right idea on the subject. We can stay with the 
escort until Maximilian is safe in the mountains. Then 
we can catch up with the band, and accompany Mr. 
Vernon and the ladies across the Rio Grande. After 
they’re once in a white man’s country, it’s back to the 
Emperor that we’ll come, and do our best to help him. 
I’m achin’ for another go at the dirty cowards that 
couldn’t lick us fair, but had to buy us as they did, 
and so are you, I know. Wouldn’t ye give every dol- 
lar in your clothes for the rush of a charge, with Pap 
Tomasito astraddle of his old gray horse out in the 
front, that lance of his awhirlin’ about his head ? ” 


2^4 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“By Jove! I would. We’re with you, Seiior!'' I ex- 
claimed; for I had grown to cherish an enthusiastic 
admiration for the hideous little Indian general who 
had been so kind to me, and to set him free I felt 
ready to venture all I had. 

“I expected no different answer from you, Senors^" 
El Cojo replied with a smile. “ I’m glad, too, that you 
don’t mean to quit the country if our plan succeeds. 
I’m tired of my career as a bandit. The Emperor’s 
escape will gain me rank in the new army that he’ll 
form. Both of you have it in you to rise high. The 
day may come yet that will see us wearing general’s 
epaulets.” The guerrilla bowed to us, and left us 
for the night. 

The first and second of June dragged slowly by and 
by eight o’clock in the evening of the latter day we 
were ready to depart. El Cojo had assembled the 
men destined for the expedition in the patio^ and as we 
stepped out of the door we saw the court yard crowded 
with them and their horses. The chief advanced and 
held up his hand for silence. 

“Are all the men here, and fully prepared, Gon- 
zalo?” he sharply demanded of a guerillero who 
seemed to exercise the power of a sergeant. 

“ All present and fit for duty, commandante. The 
horses are all right, too, and ’twill be a long ride that 
they can’t stand. ” 

“ Then attend to what I say. I am going into the 
city, and may be absent some hours. Form the men 
in double line here on the right, so that they can 
wheel and pass through the saguan by twos. That 
done, let each man stand at his horse’s head and keep 
the beast quiet. No talking is to be allowed, under- 
stand, and no matter how long I am away you will 
remain in ranks and preserve silence. The Senors 
Bellhurst and Callahan I leave in command. If any 
man disobeys my orders they will treat him as I would 
do if I were here. You know my way, cabaUeros? ” 

“ Perfectly well. Be easy,” I answered, “for both of 
us,” and El Cojo walked rapidly away without further 
words. 

Teddy and I, thus left in charge, had a weary time 
of it. We watched th.t gueriller os form as directed by 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


285 


their chief, and saw that our own horses were ready^ 
each held by a stalwart bandit. Then we began walking 
silently back and forth in front of the line, holding our 
sabers under our arms to prevent clanking. As an 
example to the men we did not exchange a word, even 
in whispers, but unceasingly kept vigilant eyes upon 
the squad, and each busy with his own thoughts. 
What Teddy’s were, of course, I had no way of know- 
ing. As for me, my mind was running on Fabian 
Baraja. Since the day when Mendez was murdered, I 
had not seen that slippery gentleman, and I could not 
help wondering whether he had taken any measures to 
secure me the allies he had promised. Perhaps he had 
done so; perhaps some of the men who were to serve 
my ends were standing in the sullen ranks before me. 
If so, hov/ was I to know them and be able to call 
upon them in case of need? Did they understand that 
it was for my service that Fabian was enlisting them? 
Or had the wily Baraja approached them as if on his 
own behalf? Might not the cunning rascal be laying 
some plan to secure my pesos and give nothing in re- 
turn? If he were, let him look to himself! I owed 
him recompense for the death of Don Ramon. 
Mendez was no more, and I needed Baraja just now, 
but in the end he should not escape. 

These thoughts and many more of the same nature 
crowded my brain as I continued my noiseless walk 
across the court-yard. Dreams of ambition mingled 
with them too, glittering visions of what might come 
to pass should our present enterprise succeed. With 
the aid of Mejia the Emperor, once among the moun- 
tains, could gather the Indians to his standard by thou- 
sands. Pap Tomasito, absolute as a king in authority 
over the people of his race, would become Maximilian's 
foremost counselor and strongest support. 

Sure of the General’s favor I, his trusted aide, could 
not fail to obtain a high command at once. Should we 
conquer, I would find myself among the foremost of 
the Imperial leaders. Maximilian again on the throne, 
and peace secured to the country, it would not be a 
bad idea to make a trip to the United States for the 
purpose of bringing back a certain maid with a wealth of 
golden hair to share the position I had made for myself. 


2^6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


So I dreamed air-built castles as the moments went 
on leaden wings. Now and again the clocks of the 
city struck the quarter-hours and the voices of the 
watchmen outside in the streets could be heard pro- 
claiming that all was well. But in the court-yard 
silence reigned supreme, broken only bytheoccasion.il 
stamp or snort of a restive horse, quickly checked by 
his watchful master. 

It was after ten o’clock. I had not looked for the 
chief’s return before midnight, and I smothered an 
ejaculation of surprise, as I saw him pass through 
the saguan and approach me. 

“ Do we start so soon ? ” I whispered anxiously, as 
soon as he was near enough to hear. “Surely, that 
cannot be prudent! ” 

“ Our excursion is postponed,” he returned curtly. 
“ Let the men go back to their quarters and have them 
unsaddle. Give the order to Gonzalo yourself, and see 
it carried out. The men may as well get used to your 
authority. Then join Callahan and me in the library.” 

Gonzalo and the others were too happy to be re- 
lieved from their weary vigil to give me any trouble. 
They obeyed my orders with cheerful alacrity, and I 
was not many minutes behind the chief and Teddy. 

“ What’s the matter ? ” was my first remark, when I 
was once more in El Cojo’s society. 

“The escape is put off,” Morales answered, a sneer- 
ing smile playing about his thin lips. “ Letters came 
to-day informing Maximiliano that the Austrian and 
Prussian ministers would be in Queretaro to-morrow. 
He at once declared that he would remain and meet 
them, deeming it an act of cowardice to fly.” 

“ But I don’t see why he should think of the matter 
in that light! ” I exclaimed. 

El Cojo shrugged his shoulders. 

“Maximiliano has curious ideas on some points, it 
seems,” he commented, sarcastically. “Having re- 
quested these gentlemen to come here, he feels it is 
his duty to remain and meet them. Salm-Salm tried to 
persuade him that they’d be better pleased to find him 
gone, but to no purpose. Well, his shroud was al- 
ready cut out, and he has simply sewn it together him- 
self, that’s all.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


287 


“ You seem to think his chance of escaping gone,” 
I said. “Why can’t it be done equally well a few days 
hence? ” 

“I’ve found out one rule that’s safe to follow, in my 
somewhat wide experience of men and matters, my dear 
Major,” the chief replied. “It is this. ‘ Never let 
an opportunity escape you.’ Had Maximiliano guided 
his actions by this little maxim he’d not be a prisoner 
to-night. As for escaping now. I’ll wager two to one 
that he’ll do no such thing. ” 

Unhappily El Cojo’s prediction was correct. The 
sentinels who had been bribed to aid in the escape 
could not resist the temptation to spend some of the 
gold in their possession. The unaccustomed display 
of wealth by the miserably paid Cliinacos aroused the 
suspicion of their comrades. Information was laid 
against them at headquarters, they were arrested and 
questioned, and all was discovered. 

As a consequence Salm-Salm, the originator of the 
plot, was placed in solitary confinement and the other 
prisoners were guarded with increased vigilance. 

The court-martial upon the Emperor 5 it in' the The- 
ater Iturbide on the thirteenth of June. As the whole 
proceeding was a mockery the place where the trial was 
held seems peculiarly appropriate. The presiding 
officer was only a colonel in rank and some of the mem- 
bers of the court could neither read nor write. 

Maximilian was condemned to death under the law of 
January, 1862, which decreed that punishment to all 
persons captured in arms against the Republic of Mex- 
ico. Thomas Mejia and Miguel Miramon were tried 
at the same time, and sentenced to die with him. The 
execution was to take place between the hours of two 
and three in the afternoon of June sixteenth. A tele- 
gram from San Luis Potosi, the seat of the Liberal 
government, came at the last moment, postponing the 
execution until June nineteenth. 

On the afternoon of June eighteenth Maximilian sent 
the following dispatch to J uarez : “ I would desire 

that M. Miguel Miramon and Thomas Mejia, who suf- 
fered all the tortures and bitterness of death the day 
before last, might be spared, and that I, as I have al- 
ready said, whentakenprisoner, maybe the only victim. ” 


288 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


The request was refused. 

Although Morales protested that our going forth was 
unwise, Teddy and I insisted upon accompanying him 
on that melancholy morning of June nineteenth. 
When we left the house it was barely daybreak, but 
the streets were already crowded by the silent and sor- 
rowful citizens of Queretaro. We rode to the Cerro 
de la Campana, where the condemned were to die, and 
dismounting, mingled with the numerous crowd assem- 
bled to witness the proceedings. The faces of the 
men among the throng were dark and lowering, and 
many of the women sobbed audibly as they turned their 
eyes toward the city, watching for the approach of the 
victims. 

At last they came. The battalion of Supremos Po- 
deres marched first. Behind them, in three hired 
fiacres surrounded by the Cazadores de Galeano, came 
first the Emperor, then Miramon, then Mejia. The 
battalion of Nueva Leon, ordered for the execution, 
brought up the rear. 

When .the fiacres were halted, the door of the one 
in which the Emperor rode could not be opened. 
Without waiting for more than one attempt, Maximilian 
jumped to the ground. He was perfectly composed, 
and very neat in his toilet, wearing a short dark coat, 
black waistcoat and pantaloons, and a small felt hat. 
Miramon and Mejia were also in civilian attire. Don 
Miguel carried himself with a resolved and haughty 
bearing, but Pap Tomasito, weakened by sickness and 
imprisonment, seemed hardly able to stand. 

The soldiers formed three sides of a square, the open 
one facing the Cerro. Here a wall of adobes had been 
erected, against which the prisoners were to stand. 
There was no delay, and the three victims moved at 
once toward their places. 

In the middle, the place destined for the Emperor, 
the wall was higher than at the other parts. With a 
noble gesture, Maximilian motioned Miramon to take 
this place, saying : 

“ A brave soldier must be honored by his monarch, 
even in his last hour. Therefore, permit me to give 
you the place of honor.” 

An officer and seven men now advanced to within a 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


289 


few yards of each of the condemned. Maximilian went 
up to those before him, gave every soldier his hand 
and a twenty peso gold-piece, and requested* them to 
aim at his heart. Returning to his stand, he took off 
his hat, wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, and 
handed both articles to his Hungarian servant, with 
orders to take them to his mother, the Archduchess 
Sophia. There was an intense silence, and then in 
clear, firm tones, the last words of Maximilian sounded 
in our ears. 

“Mexicans!” the Emperor said. “Persons of 
my rank and origin are destined by God either to be 
benefactors of the people or martyrs. Called by a 
great part of you, I came for the good of the country. 
Ambition did not bring me here. I came animated 
with the best wishes for the future of my adopted 
country, and for that of my soldiers, whom I thank 
before my death, for the sacrifices they made for me. 
Mexicans ! may my blood be the last which shall be 
spilt for the welfare of the country. And if it should 
be necessary that its sons should still shed theirs, may 
it flow for its good, but never by treason. Viva inde- 
pendence ! Viva Mexico ! ” 

While the Emperor was speaking my eyes were fas- 
tened on Pap Tomasito. In the presence of death 
the little Indian seemed to shake off the weakness 
that had marked his demeanor as he moved to his 
place. His head was thrown defiantly back and his 
eyes flashed contemptuously as the rifles came slowly 
up to the position of “aim.” 

Maximilian ceased speaking. The Chinaco officers 
in charge of the squads waved their swords and the 
men fired. Above the crash of the rifles rose high and 
clear the last defiant shout of Mejia and Miramon : 

“ Viva el Emperador 


290 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 

AT THE RANCHO DE PALMAS. 

“Fie ! old man, what a melancholy phiz ye’re car- 
rying ! Wake up and have some style about ye.” 

And Teddy Callahan’s hand fell with good-natured 
force on my shoulder. 

Three weeks had elapsed since the melancholy scene 
I have told in the preceding chapter. Morales and 
his band, including Teddy and myself, of course, had 
arrived only half an hour before at the Rancho de 
Palmas, owned, as the chief had informed us, by one of 
his best friends. We had left Queretaro before noon 
on June the twentieth, and had made steady but not 
fatiguing marches on every succeeding day. Safely 
and without adventure we had threaded the paths of 
the mountains, heading ever northward, and coming 
down at last into the high tableland country, struck 
across it with Matamoras as our destination. 

That our coming was expected and welcome soon 
appeared. A dozen leather-clad Mexicans ran from 
all parts of the rancho with cries of greeting, and 
hastened to kick aside the inhospitable curs belonging 
to the estate, who seemed to think it their duty to pro- 
test in discordant barks at our arrival. Theranchero, 
Don Martin Tafalla, as El Cojo called him, awaited us 
on the porch and insisted that the chief’s friends must 
be shown at once to their rooms for a slight rest before 
supper. All but myself had followed him. Happening 
to catch my spur on one of the steps I stopped and 
unbuckled both of them. As I was rising from the 
task, some movement in the crowd of men and beasts 
behind me in the court attracted my attention, 
and leaning against one of the pillars that supported 
the roof of the porch I soon became absorbed in the 
scene. 

The Rancho de Palmas stood on a slight knoll that 
rose almost imperceptibly from the plain that sur- 
rounded it. On three sides, at a distance of a hundred 
yards from the walls, was the dense and luxuriant 
forest through which lay the road we had traveled. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


291 


On the fourth side a small branch of the San Juan 
river flowed, and the country beyond was a broad, 
open plain, dotted here and there by small mottes or 
clumps of trees. 

Approaching the rancho one first saw a long brown 
wall of adobes that rose from the ground to a height 
of perhaps eighteen feet, with a gate in the middle 
and narrow slits of loopholes at regular intervals on 
each side. As one came near the gate it became an 
archway perhaps twenty feet through, and riding into 
the court one saw that what had appeared to be a wall 
was in reality the front of a long building used instead 
of the usual corral for the stabling of horses. El 
Cojo affirmed to me that he had housed as many 
as three hundred in the stables of the Rancho de 
Palmas. 

The house itself stood perhaps fifty yards further on. 
It was only one story high, and along the side you 
faced on entering ran a wide veranda with a sloping 
roof. The back of the dwelling, toward the river, was 
loopholed like the stables, and there were no windows 
there. On either of the two remaining sides of the 
quadrangle were a number of houses used as quarters 
for the servants, harness-rooms, storehouses, granaries, 
etc. The space thus inclosed was, perhaps, a hundred 
yards long by fifty wide, forming the patio^ or court- 
yard. In the middle was a well, and the possession of 
this made the place a regular fortress. 

The scene in the patio was picturesque enough to 
please a more jaded fancy than mine. Our riders, 
between fifty and sixty in number, had dismounted, 
and were moving about unsaddling and watering the 
horses, and leading them to the stables. The male 
domestics who had first hailed our approach had been 
reinforced by a score of women clad in the white 
chemisettes and bright-colored skirts peculiar to the 
country, and these mingled with our men with a free- 
dom that betokened old and familiar acquaintance. 
On every side rose glad cries of welcome, bursts of 
laughter, and rough bits of badinage, as our swarthy 
bandits passed compliments with their male and female 
friends. It was a picture essentially Mexican, and I 
was sighing at the thought that our sojourn in that 


292 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


land was wellnigh over, when Teddy, coming back to 
look for me, interrupted my musings. 

“ Humph !” he grunted in answer to my expression 
of regret. “Ye don’t know whether to be glad or 
sorry at leaving ‘Grease; land^’ ye say. Jack ? Faith, 
it’s little that Terence Callahan is troubled at the idea 
of saying good-by. A land where they feed ye three 
times a day on jerked beef, beans, and flap-jacks is no 
fit place for a Christian. It’s true we’ve had some gay 
old times since we came, have seen some royal shin- 
dies, and lacked no end of diversion. But when ye 
think that since they couldn’t beat us, they bought us, 
and, if it hadn’t been for El Cojo, we’d have been shot 
or sent to the mines for life, confess that we’re well 
out of it. To say nothing of our dear friend Val- 
longa. ” 

“That’s all a thing of the past now, I suppose,” I 
said gayly. “We’re beyond Vallonga’s reach now, 
and will probably never see him again. ” 

“I wouldn’t reckon too confidently on that were I 
you, Senor Bellhurst,” the sharp voice of El Cojo 
sounded behind me. 

I turned and faced the chief, who had just come out 
on the veranda. 

‘ ‘ Why do you say that ? ” I demanded. “You know 
that since the Emperor is dead I shall return no more 
to Mexico. You don’t suppose I’m likely to meet 
Vallonga elsewhere, do you ?” 

“The world’s not so wide, after all,” Morales 
answered gravely. “Perhaps he’s not so very far 
off.” 

“ Not so far off ? What do you mean by that ? ” I 
asked quickly. 

“Just this. For the last three days our march has 
been followed. A party of horsemen has persistently 
dogged us, and I have no doubt that Vallonga is their 
leader. I’m not sure, of course; but there is no man 
in Mexico who has such cause to follow, and it must 
be he.” El Cojo laughed at my look of wonder. 

“But you’ve said nothing of this before. Why 
didn’t you tell us that we were being pursued ? ” I 
demanded. 

“ What was the use ? I knew that they were not 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


293 


Strong enough to attack us openly. When we camped 
I took care that the guards were on the alert. Why 
should I trouble you, and make you feel uneasy ? Now 
that we are here we are in absolute safety, for the 
rancho is a perfect fortress, and I have men enough to 
hold it. Juan of Perote, for whom I intend to wait 
here, will come on the day after to«morrow, and with 
him more men than accompanied us from Quer^taro. 
Against such force Vallonga, if it be he, will be unable 
to accomplish anything. Indeed, we may snap our 
fingers at him now, for that matter.” 

“ So you expect more men? ” I observed as the chief 
paused. “You speak of Juan of Perote. Had I not 
the pleasure of seeing that gentleman on the night I 
met you for the first time? ” 

Seftor^ you had,” El Cojo grinned. “Since then 
Juan has been here in the north, attending to a 
branch of our business that could not be left uncared 
for, while I was aiding Escobedo at Queretaro. I 
mean our commercial transactions with certain good 
merchants across the border. In the course of a year 
I sell a large quantity of goods in Texas.” 

“ Goods? What sort of goods? ” 

“Oh, products of the country — cochineal, indigo, 
anything that has a market. As you can guess, 
the goods I sell pay no duty when they cross the bor- 
der. ” 

“Ah, you combine smuggling with your guerilUro 
business, eh?” 

“Exactly. The rancho here is our headquarters 
and Senor Tafalla has the guardianship of our store- 
houses. All our ventures start from here, and I think 
you’ll agree with me that no place could be more 
suitable.” 

A marvelously good supper did the cook of the 
Rancho de Palmas set before us. After the monoto- 
nous fare of the road it was doubly welcome, and 
Senor Tafalla’s Mf had no cause to complain of lack 
of appetite in his guests. 

Coming out on the veranda the gentlemen lighted 
their cigarettes and we paired off unconsciously, 
Teddy with Evelyn Vernon, the Senora Inez with 
Evelyn’s father, El Cojo with the Senora Tafalla, and 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


2 04 

I, to my great delight, secured the company of Alys 
Rowell. 

I had had little opportunity to talk with that per- 
verse little lady during our journey from Queretaro, 
for she had all of a sudden taken a great fancy to the 
Senora Inez, and every evening in camp had remained 
close beside her. Of course, I was welcome to join 
them, but “All or nothing” is a motto I followed 
pretty closely all my life, and occasionally it has been 
nothing instead of all. 

However, this evening it seemed that I was to enjoy 
the society of Alys Rowell in peace. The darkness 
had fallen when we came out and there was no moon. 
In the blazed several clusters of torches and 

around each was gathered a separate group bent on 
amusement in their own peculiar fashion. The tink- 
ling of mandolins and the strumming of guitars came 
from the assemblage nearest to the well, and by the 
glare of the torches we could see men and women 
moving with lazy grace in the mazes of the fan- 
dango. 

“How weird that looks, doesn’t it?” Alys said. 
“ They seem to dance perfectly, too, only we’re rather 
far away to judge.” 

“ Let’s go down and watch them,” I suggested. 

“Oh, I’d love to. But then, perhaps, they mightn’t 
like it,” Alys hesitated. “You know lots of them 
hate ‘ Gringos,’ as they call us.” 

“ I tell you what, ” I proposed. “ Let’s walk to the 
well. It’s near enough for us to see perfectly, yet 
still beyond the light cast by the torches.” In a few 
moments we were beside the well. I threw my serape 
on the warm sand and we seated ourselves, resting 
our backs against the low stone wall. 

“How do you like it?” I asked after Alys had 
watched the dancers for some moments. 

“It’s perfect. Just look at that woman! ” pointing 
to a tall girl who was gliding over the ground in accu- 
rate time to the music and executing the most difficult 
steps with no apparent effort. “ She’s the very poetry 
of motion. What a sensation she’d create on the 
stage. Tell me,” turning suddenly upon me, “can 
that Mexican lady of yours dance as well?” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


295 


‘ What Mexican lady? ” I demanded in genuine sur- 
prise. 

“Why the one you told me of in Queretaro. Don’t 
you remember? I think it was on the first night after 
you joined Senor Morales. You said that since you 
had come to Mexico you had seen a woman whom you 
loved with all your heart and soul.” 

“Oh, that one,’’ I rejoined, smiling. “I remember 
now. Yes, that lady can dance much better than the 
girl we are watching. ” 

“ I don’t believethat,”Alys asserted. “ She couldn’t. 
No one could. But how comes it that you are leaving 
Mexico? You still care for the lady, I suppose.” 

“Yes, I still care for her. I shall always care for 
her,” I answered dreamily. 

“ Then why do you leave her? ” 

“I promised your uncle that I’d see him safe in 
Texas. But perhaps he didn’t tell you that.” 

“No, he didn’t. He hasn’t really said very much 
about you to us. Then after we’re in Texas, I suppose 
you’ll go back to Mexico?” 

“That will depend upon the lady,” I said gravely. 

“ But you’ll meet that horrid wretch Vallonga and 
be murdered. I’m sure you will. Don’t go back to 
Mexico, Jack, don’t; I beg of you. If I knew that 
Mexican woman, Td write and tell her what I think of 
her, dragging you back into danger. ” 

“ You would ?” 

“Yes, I would. Tell me her name. Jack, and you’ll 
see whether I am in earnest. Come on. Tell me her 
name, please, do.” 

“Stop it, Alys, right here,” I said, desperately. 
“ I’m in no mood for further trifling. You must know, 
as well as you know that you’re sitting here with me, 
that the woman of whom I spoke to you that night is 
yourself. You must know, you cannot help knowing, 
that I love you more than anything else in the world. ” 

“You may stop, yourself. Jack Bellhurst,” the girl 
said in quick, strained accents as I paused. “I was 
in earnest, and every word I said was true. But I take 
it all back, now. Instead of being brave and noble, 
you are cruel and cowardly to talk so to me. And you 
^re a fool if you think I will believe you.” 


296 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


^‘Alys, you are the one who is cruel. Believe 
me ” 

“No, no, Jack !” she cried. “You think I am 
young and silly enough to be gulled by tender speeches. 
But don’t carry it any farther. You’re a gentleman. 
Jack, and you’ll stop since I ask you.” 

“ You’re right there,” I answered after a moment’s 
gloomy silence. “I will not force you to hear what is 
so unpleasant to you. Alone I will live and alone. I 
will die, for you hold my heart and will always hold 
it. That is all. Do you wish to go back to the house 
now? ” 

She did not answer. For some time we sat silent. 
Then at last I heard a voice, that had more than a sus- 
picion of tears in it, whisper: 

“ You — you said that as if it were true. Jack. Were 
you really in earnest all the time? On your honor. 
Jack? ” 

“On my honor, Alys Rowell, every word I have 
uttered to you to-night is true as Heaven itself.” 

“Well, then,” the voice faltered, “would you mind 
telling it to me just once more. Jack? for you see per- 
haps I didn’t understand all of it.” 

Before she had quite finished I caught her in my 
arms, and gently but firmly I drew her to my breast. 

“ My love! my love! ” was all that I could say. 

She hid her face in my coat and her body shook with 
suppressed sobs. Suddenly she raised her head. 

“Oh Jack! It must be all true! ” she said eagerly. 
“I’m so afraid I shall wake up and find it only a 
dream.” Her head went down again, and she nestled 
close to me while I pressed my lips to her hair and 
murmured wild, broken assurances that it was true, all 
true, that I was hers and hers only, that no one should 
ever take her from me, and that my very soul belonged 
to her. 

At last she made a movement and I released her. 

“ I don’t want to go in a bit. Jack,” she whispered, 
as she rose to her feet. “ But the others will miss us 
and notice, and I don’t wish them to know — just yet. 
Let’s have it for a secret between us two, only for a 
few days. Jack. You don’t mind, do you? ” 

“ Not in the least,” I said, beaming with delight. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


297 


“But before we go in, there’s one thing yet Alys. ” 

“ What? ” she asked wonderingly. 

“This,” I said, as I passed my arm once more 
around her waist. She shivered and held down her 
head for a few seconds. Then she raised it, and in 
the darkness I saw her eyes shine into mine like very 
stars, with a light in them that — well, I can only say 
God pity the man who has never seen that look in a 
woman’s eyes. I drew her to me, her arms stole 
around my neck, our lips met, and then I had the first 
real kiss that I had ever known. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

A DISAGREEABLE AWAKENING. 

“Ah, here you are,” El Cojo cried, as we mounted 
the steps of the porch. 

“We’ve been down watching the dancers,” I re- 
plied, halting, while Alys slipped past him and joined 
her cousin and the senora, who were standing some 
steps away. “What’s in the wind, now ?” 

“I’m happy to be able to say that you can be per- 
fectly easy about the party that followed us. I had 
one of my men drop behind our column this morning 
and conceal himself in the woods, with instructions to 
find out all about our pursuers. He came in about a 
quarter of an hour ago. The fellows were a prospect- 
ing party from the coast, he says, and are bound for 
Chihuahua. He rode back on our track, and found 
that they were no longer following us, but had 
branched off westward. 

“And by the way, Senor Juan,” he continued, “I 
hope you won’t be angry at my giving you a friendly 
bit of advice about the little fair-haired senorita. If 
you’ve any hopes in that quarter you’d best bring 
matters to a climax and make everything right with 
her before the old uncle steps in to spoil your chances. 
When he found you two were away together this even- 
ing he wasn’t in the loveliest of tempers, by any 


298 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


means. You’ll not have another chance for a tHe-a~ 
tite with his niece if he can prevent it.” 

“Thank you for the warning,” I said, laughing. 

“ Not at all, my boy. But now what do you say to a 
little monte ? The ladies are tired by the day’s ride 
and anxious to prove how soft the beds of the Rancho 
de Palmas are. ” 

Several hours passed quickly and, when the game 
broke up, it was nearly one o’clock in the morning. 
I passed into the house and sought the room that 
had been given to Teddy and me. 

It was a good-sized chamber and had two excellent 
beds in it, raw-hide plaited closely on a wooden frame- 
work. There was no other furniture, not even arable, 
and the lamp stood on a bracket set in the wall. The 
room was meant to sleep in, and only to sleep in. 
Teddy, in shirt and trousers, was sitting on one of the 
couches sucking at his briar pipe while awaiting 
my appearance. Through the open window the blue 
wreaths of smoke drifted out on the night air. 

“Begad, Jack, but it’s a beautiful expression ye are 
wearing at the present moment,” he sang out, as I en- 
tered. “Do ye want any help. Jack?” 

“ Perhaps. I may as well tell you now that as soon 
as we get to Texas ’Im going to marry Alys Rowell,” 
I said, decisively. 

“ The devil ye are ! Somewhat quick work, don’t 
ye think, me son ?” 

“ Going to do it, nevertheless. And if I need your 
aid I’m going to use you, so be ready,” I replied, 
laughing. 

“ Ye’ll never find me wanting when ye have work for 
me, and ye know that well. But afterward. Jack, 
What’s to come afterward ?” Teddy queried somewhat 
anxiously. 

“ Afterward we’re going to Bellhurst just as quick 
as trains will take us there. I’ve had my fill of ex- 
citement for the present, and I’m going home. 
You’ll come with me, and the governor will get both 
of us something to do so that we needn’t be idle.” 

Humph!” Teddy grunted. “Ye seem mighty 
sure that the Hon. John will welcome ye with open 
arms.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


299 


“I’d wager my last dollar that he'll be so glad to 
see his bad boy back that he’ll put a watch over me to 
be sure I don’t light out again,” I returned with a 
grin. 

“ But what’ll he say when he finds he’s got a daugh- 
ter-in-law ? ” pursued Callahan. 

“That’ll be the final drop in his cup of bliss, old 
fellow. Hasn’t he told me that the sooner I’m mar 
ried the better he’ll be pleased ? What’s the matter 
with you, anyhow ? You know Miss Rowell. Now 
tell me, do you think a man could find a lovelier, 
dearer girl anywhere in the world ? ” 

“She’s all that ye say, Jack.” 

“So it’s good-by to the life of a soldier of fortune, 
is it. Jack?” he said in meditative tones. “Ye’ve 
had enough of glory and prefer to settle under your 
own vine and fig-tree, and all that, eh ? ” 

“ Glory be blowed ! ” I said heartily. “Oldman, 
the only thing really worth having in this world is 
love. Wait until you know what it is and you’ll agree 
with me. ” 

“ Perhaps I’ll not have so long to wait as ye think,” 
Teddy said with a smile. “Jack, I’ve not told ye 
what’s been in me mind for the past few weeks. Yes- 
terday when we halted at noon ye may remember that 
I took a short stroll in the woods. ” 

“Yes, I know you and Miss Vernon were hunting 
some flower or other that she wanted. What then? ” 

“Well Jack, I asked her if she’d marry me when I’d 
enough money to support her, and she said she W'ould. ” 

I looked at Teddy, almost doubting that I had heard 
aright. 

“Well, I’m darned?” I said slowly and with empha- 
sis. 

“I thought ye’d be amazed, ’’ he coolly remarked. 
“Ye never caught on a bit while I was carryin’ on me 
operations. ” 

“ Probably I was too much occupied with my own,” 
I rejoined, laughing. “I’m glad of it, though, and 
Evelyn Vernon’s a mighty lucky girl.” 

“It’s I that am the lucky one, Jack,” Teddy pro- 
tested. “ I know that I’m not fit to tie her little shoes, 
but ” 


300 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Shut up! ” I commanded. “ You’re fit to have the 
love of the finest woman in the world. When we get 
to Texas you take my advice and marry Evelyn.” 

“ Can’t do that, Jack. I’ve got to be able to pro- 
vide a home for her first.” 

“That’ll be all right. If my governor can’t get 
you something to do that will enable you to support a 
wife in comfort, I’ll know the reason why.” 

“We’ll wait until I get it. Jack; there’ll be no harm 
in that,” my chum said, smiling. “I’ve no fear that 
all won’t come right in the end. We’ve some days 
still to remain in Mexico, and we can think over our 
plans at our leisure. Now, if ye’ll put out the light, 
it’ll not be a bad idea to get some sleep.” 

The room in darkness, I lay thinking over the hap- 
penings of the evening. The touch of Alys Rowell’s 
lips had made me happier than I had ever been before. 
And my last waking remembrance was of the love- 
light in her eyes and the perfume of her hair. 

* ♦ ♦ ♦ 

It was nearly daylight when a flash of light in my 
face awakened me, and I half started up, then turned 
over on my side to escape the glare of the lantern, with 
a grumbling “ all right, sir,” as I had been wont to do 
at the Point when the “ tac ” made an inspection after 
taps. 

A hoarse, chuckling laugh and a loud oath in Spanish 
ringing through the room, awoke me to the fact that 
West Point was many miles away. In an instant I 
was out of bed, and every vestige of drowsiness had 
disappeared as if by magic. For I was looking straight 
into the muzzle of a cocked revolver, held leveled at 
my head by the steady hand of Fabian Baraja. 

“ That’s the proper way to act, my Major,” Fabian 
grinned sarcastically, as I remained quietly gazing at 
him. “If you make any attempt at resistance I’ll 
give you a pill to calm you, and repeat the dose, if 
necessary. Step forward and tie his hands behind 
him, Jos6. See that you make a secure job of it, too, 
for he’s no child when it comes to a question of 
strength. ” 

In a twinkling my arms were drawn back, and I felt 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


301 


the vigorous pressure of a coil of raw-hide rope run 
rapidly from my wrists to my elbows. 

“ May I request that you tell your friend not to pull 
so hard, my dear Senor Fabian ? ” I suggested as 
calmly as I could manage. “The gentleman will 
crack my bones if he exerts himself a trifle more.” 

“You don’t imagine we’d shed many tears if he did, 
do you, my Major ? ” the scoundrel retorted with an- 
other fiendish smile. “Don’t trouble yourself about 
hurting him, Jose. The chief won’t lay it up against 
you, be sure of that.” 

“There!” he continued, shoving his weapon back 
into its holster, “ I’ll trust you to remain quiet. Have 
you got the Irishman fast, Pedillo ? ” 

“ If he moves I’ll slice his head off. But you'd bet- 
ter come over and tie him up also. I’ve no wish to 
sit here pricking his jugular with my blade much longer. 
It’s too tempting,” came from Teddy’s bed, in the 
well-remembered voice of the lemonade-seller. 

Baraja and another of our foes went to Pedillo’s as- 
sistance, and in a few seconds Callahan was as firmly 
bound as I was. 

His first act, so soon as they let him rise, was to 
walk coolly across the room to me, and sit down on 
my bed. 

“ Take a seat, Jack, and maybe Mr. Baraja will have 
the goodness to explain the meaning of his unexpected 
visit. It’s a long story, I’ve no doubt, and ye can 
hear more at your ease sitting than standing.” 

I glanced at my chum as I sat down. His face was 
pale, but that was his only sign of concern. Pedillo 
had evidently been “pricking his jugular,” for a little 
trickle of blood was running from his throat over his 
nightshirt. 

Baraja stared at us both for a moment, and then 
laughed heartily. 

“You’re a queer pair, you two,’’ he commented, as 
he dragged Teddy’s bed nearer to mine and seated 
himself on the end of it, motioning Pedillo to a place 
at his side. 

“Aren’t you anxious, my Major,” Fabian remarked 
with a sly laugh, “to know how I come to be here, 
and can’t you find some words to thank me for bring- 


302 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


ing your old friend Pedillo along ? How is it, Pedillo, 
you’re glad to see the Major once more, aren’t you ? ” 

^"■Nombre de Dios! But I am!” hissed out the 
wrinkled old cutthroat. 

“ As for how I happen to be here with these friends 
of mine, Senor Callahan,” Fabian resumed, “you 
must know that ever since El Cojo left Queretaro I ve 
not lost sight of you.” 

“You were in the party that followed us then ? ” 1 
interrupted^. 

“My Major, I had that honor. My intense desire 
to be sure that no harm should befall you on your 
journey back to your native land led me to gather cer- 
tain of my friends and keep a careful watch on your 
movements. ” 

“Ye have our most grateful thanks for your kind 
intentions,” Teddy said mockingly. “ Meanwhile, be- 
fore ye proceed with your very interesting story, I will 
take the liberty to ask ye to consider that two Ameri- 
can gentlemen cannot feel wholly at ease in the pres- 
ence of such worthy hidalgos as ye are while they are 
without breeches. If ye’ll kindly have some of your 
estimable friends pull our pants on for us we‘11 thank 
ye. It’s blushin’ I ve been for the last five minutes.” 

“Get their breeches on them, a couple of you,” 
Fabian ordered, with a laugh. 

I was glad when that order was obeyed, though my 
bandit valets handled me none too tenderly. 

“They don’t need their botas, ” Pedillo grunted to 
Jose as the latter brought forward our boots. “ Some 
of us may fancy them, and it would be needless 
trouble pulling them off after the Gringos are stiff.” 

“Come, Baraja, a truce to foolery,” I said, as I 
resumed my seat on the bed. “You remember the 
contract we made in Queretaro. Tell me why you 
have failed to carry out your part. ” 

“Nothing easier, my Major. You offered me a 
good sum to aid you, but it happened that a certain 
gentleman of my acquaintance showed me that I could 
make more by taking sides against you. Then, too, 
my father laid his commands on me to join the oppo- 
site party. Would you have me be a disobedient son, 
and turn' a deaf ear to the injunctions of my parent?” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


303 


“Your father? I never heard of your having a 
father before this! ” I ejaculated in amazed tones. 

“ No, I didn’t suppose you knew that I am the son 
of Pedillo, ” Fabian said, with a grin of genuine enjoy- 
ment. “ I am his son, nevertheless, eh, papa?” 

And he nudged the lemonade seller in the ribs, 
while the latter smiled at me, with devilish satisfaction 
showing in every line of his withered face. 

“You’ve a worthy sire. I’ll confess, ” was my com- 
ment. “ Go on and finish your tale. ” 

“We followed you, twenty of us, until you got to 
the rancho. You may recall my telling you of my 
friends among El Cojo’s men — the ones I was to buy 
for you. Yes? Well, it happened that the man sent 
back to watch us, this morning, was more mine than 
El Cojo’s, and sharp as Morales thinks himself, he was 
fooled this time. Half of the fellows you brought 
along from Queretaro were ready to turn against their 
leader at a word from me. I slipped into the Rancho 
as soon as it grew dark, and arranged the whole affair. 
About an hour ago my friends outside were admitted. 
Of El Cojo's followers only nine are prisoners. The 
rest either joined us or were stabbed as they slept by 
those of our men who had reason to hate them. El 
Cojo, Senor Vernon, and Senor Tafalla are our pris- 
oners, and the ladies are in the hands of our leader. 
We secured you the last.” 

“And now that you have us what’s to be done with 
us?” 

^^Quiensabe? My chief will dispose of you as he 
wishes. If I were you, though, my Major, I’d begin to 
try and recollect my prayers, ” was the comforting reply. 
' “You haven’t named your chief, but I know who he 
is without your telling,” I said. “ Now look here. ^ I 
don’t know how much he’s given you, but I offer to 
double his price. Set me free, join me in a sudden 
attack on your companions, and you’ll make just twice 
as much money as you expected.” 

“ Not if you offered ten times as much, accursed 
Americano ! ” suddenly shouted Pedillo, thrusting his 
bony fists furiously into my face. “You shall not 
escape ! I’ll tear your heart from your body with 
these hands first ! ” 


304 


A PASSING EMPEROR, 


“Gently, papa Pedillo, gently,” Baraja said, draw- 
ing him back. “You see the old gentleman doesn’t 
like you, my Major. You nearly rode him down once, 
and I believe you quizzed him about his career, in 
Santa Anna’s army. He’s got a long memory and is 
inclined to be unforgiving.” 

“And do you join with him in refusing my offers ? ” 
“Decidedly, my Major. Were I fool enough to 
think of such a thing I’d be cold meat in a very few 
minutes. Senor Vallonga has too many fellows of his 
own to give us any hope of success in a dash of the 
kind you propose. It’s no use, you can make up your 
mind to that, and you may as well prepare for the 
worst. God himself can not save you now.” 

“Before you’re many hours older, you impious 
scoundrel, my turn may come,” I returned in firm 
tones. 

“ When it comes, yes, my Major,” sneered Baraja. 
“Get up, now, and we’ll take you to your dear friend 
Colonel Vallonga. He’s probably finished what he 
has to say to the senoritas by this time. Dios ! but 
he’s a lucky man, the Colonel ! It’s not every day 
that two such beautiful creatures as your country- 
women fall to the lot of a mere adventurer, eh, my 
Major ? I wonder how long it will be ere he tires 
of them. When he is weary the rest of us may have 
a chance, and Christo ! but I long for mine ! ” 

The devilish delight in Baraja’s face, and the fearful 
ideas suggested by his words were more than I could 
endure. The wretch was standing directly in ffbnt of 
me ; throwing all my strength into the effort I dealt 
him a kick square in the pit of his stomach. It hurt 
my unprotected toes terribly, but it doubled up Fabian 
Baraja. He went down on the floor uttering a gasp- 
ing scream as he fell, and writhed about for some 
moments like a crushed worm. His comrades promptly 
grasped me and hurled me back on my bed, but I felt 
immensely relieved in mind. Had my boots been on 
my feet I doubt if Fabian would ever have risen again. 

“Curse you !” he screamed out, when he was at 
length able to stand. “If it were not that Vallonga 
will give you all you deserve I’d cut you up by inches 
his moment. To treat me so when I had the kind- 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


305 


ness to leave your legs untied ! But you’ll pay for 
that kick, pay for it a thousand times over ! Bring 
them along, men, and if they don’t walk fast enough 
spur them with your knives.” 

And Baraja limped out of the room in a half-bent 
posture, hugging the injured part of his body and fill- 
ing the air with his oaths. 

Our guards dragged us along behind him and were 
not slow to follow his suggestions as to “spurring” us. 

“ Oh ! Jack, but that was a jewel of a kick ! ” Teddy 
exulted as we crossed the threshold. “It took him 
right where he lives, didn’t it? H — 1! Quit it, you 
infernal old villain! Can’t ye see I’m walkin’ as fast 
as I can?” 

“What’s the matter?” I asked, quickly. 

“That fiend of Satan, Pedillo, jabbed me with a 
knife to quicken me.” 

“The demons! ” I said, angrily. But before I could 
waste more sympathy on Teddy, a vrgorous prod in the 
fleshy part of my thigh made me feel that I had troubles 
of my own. 

Pushed and pulled along, with nowand then a sharp 
prick from Pedillo’s ready knife, we were ushered into 
the room where we had played at monte only a few 
hours before. The lamps were lighted, the table and 
chairs were still there; but the scene was very 
different. 

Lounging back in one of the chairs, with a cigar in 
his mouth and his feet on the table, Joaquin Vallonga 
gave an exclamation of satisfaction. Baraja, still rub- 
bing his bruised stomach, had deposited himself on 
another chair. The remaining four were supporting 
as many fiercely moustached, dark-faced mongrel 
“Greasers,” and a dozen or more of their like leaned 
against the walls. El Cojo, Lucky Vernon, and 
Tafalla, bound and helpless, were standing before the 
table. 

“ Let go of them now, muchacos^ and stand them up 
with the others,” Vallonga called to our captors, who 
released their hold on our shoulders and fell back. 

“I hope I find you well, gentlemen,” he continued, 
rising and walking around the table to take his stand 
in frontofus, “though it’s only natural that you should 


3o6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


feel some surprise at seeing me here. I’d safely wager 
that you didn’t look for my coming.” 

He held a “quirt,” or whip of rawhide in his right 
hand, and he kept rubbing it gently along his right 
thigh while bespoke. 

“I am especially glad to meet you once more, my 
dear Juan,” he went on in his softest voice, fixing his 
eyes on mine with a gaze of Satanic triumph. “ The 
last time we met you were rather short with me, but 
you’ll be kinder now, won’t you? I have dreamed of 
meeting you many times since that night. And I’m 
not flattering you when I say that the realization is 
pleasanter than the dream. Don’t you think so, my 
dear Juan? Don’t you think so? ” 

As he spoke he raised the quirt and drew it across 
my face with all his strength. The whip cut like a 
knife, and I could not refrain from a moan of agony. 

“Bah! Juan, what a child you are! And yet this 
was Pap Tomasito’s pet, and the men of the Imperial 
cavalry called him V/ tigre ’ ! ” he laughed to his men. 
“ Try it again, Juan, and see if you don’t get used to 
it.” 

A second time the stinging hide fell upon my cheek. 

With set teeth and compressed lips I bore the blow, 
and though the blood was running over my chin and 
neck I never flinched. My eyes must have told Val- 
longa how I would have requited him, had it been in 
my power, but I spoke no word. 

Teddy was almost frantic. The tears gushed from 
his eyes and his voice was hoarse and shaken with sobs 
as he raised it in protest at the cowardly deed. 

“ Stop it, ye pusillanimous hound! Stop it, I say! ” 
he shouted. “ Ye know damned well that if his hands 
were free ye’d never dare face him, ye dirty Greaser! 
By Heaven! if ye’ll unloose this rope from my arms, 
it’s myself that will undertake to kill ye with my naked 
fists. I dare ye to give me a chance at ye!” And 
Callahan lavished on the dastard curses, revilings, and 
contempt. 

“ Your friend Callahan grows eloquent, Juan,” Val- 
longa smiled softly, as Teddy paused. “Take them 
away and shut them up in one of the outhouses for 
the present,” he commanded. “None of us care to 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


307 


hear the Irishman swear any more, and we’ll all be the 
belter for some sleep. Off with them ! ” 

Surrounded by a dozen malignant and bloody- 
minded Mexicans, we passed through the hall and out 
of the house. As I stepped from the veranda a shud- 
der ran through my frame. Upon the sand at the foot 
of the steps the body of Corchuelo, our lieutenant, lay 
upon its back, the throat cut from ear to ear, and a 
look of awful dread and dismay stamped upon the rigid 
face. El Cojo caught my eye as we walked onward. 

“He was a brave comrade,” he said, sadly. “If 
my time has not come yet, these dogs will pay a thou- 
sand fold for every drop of Ids blood.” 

A blow across the mouth silenced Morales. Our 
guards led us across the palio to one of the storehouses, 
pushed us inside and withdrew, carefully securing the 
door. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE FLASH OF A MATCH. 

Our prison was a single room, with rough adobe 
walls and a dirt floor. Around three sides of it ran a 
row of shelves, used to hold the contraband goods of 
the smugglers, but at present bare and empty. In 
one corner a rude wooden ladder led to a trap-door 
that opened into the loft overhead. The place was 
small, the ventilation poor, coming from several nar- 
row slits in the walls just below the board floor of the 
garret, and I made up my mind that as soon as the 
sun had risen high enough in the heavens we were 
going to be very uncomfortable. 

We seated ourselves in sullen silence upon the floor, 
assuming the most comfortable positions in our power, 
and for awhile no one spoke. Teddy pressed himself 
close to me, endeavoring to convey by mute contact 
his- sympathy for the smarting cuts across my face. I 
knew what he meant by his action, and I was grateful. 
But I could only sit with compressed lips and eyes 
glaring straight before me, thinking of the merciless 
insults I had borne and the manner in which I would 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


308 

avenge them were I free to do so. Then my mird 
went to Alys. 

I groaned aloud. 

“ Who is that? ” It was the voice of El Cojo. 

“It’s I. How long do you think we’ve got to 
stay in this hole.” I demanded. 

“ Probably all day and all night. There’s a lot of 
liquor in the rancho. Those fellows of Vallonga’s will 
not rest until they’ve filled their skins. They know 
they’ll find us here when they want us. To-morrow 
morning they’ll be feeling ugly, and then our part of 
the show will come. If Juan of Perote were expected 
to-day,” muttered the guerrilla — “ but it’s no good to 
talk of that, he was not to come until to-morrow. He’ll 
find what’s left of our bodies !” 

“ Hang it !” I said impatiently. “You’ve been in 
just as tight places before. Set your wits to work and 
think of some method we can use to get rid of our 
bonds. You’ve been tied up oftener than I have.” I 
gave a faint laugh. 

“ These are the most scientific knots I’ve ever felt,” 
Morales rejoined. “ We’re tied by no bunglers, and 
we cant get loose. That’s all there is to the situa- 
tion. ” 

“ What do you propose doing, then ?” I demanded, 
impatiently. 

“Die, when they come for us, like a man,” was the 
cool answer. “I’ve lived free from fear, and they 
shan’t hear El Cojo beg for mercy when they put us to 
the torture.” 

“Great Heavens!” broke in the voice of Lucky 
Vernon, “ do you mean to say these devils intend to 
torture us?” 

“Oh! you’ve nothing to fear, old gentleman!” the 
bandit rejoined with a laugh. “ Vallonga will have 
use for you alive ! ” 

“How do you mean Vallonga will have use for 
me?” Lucky Vernon asked, eagerly. 

“Why, you’re a goose that can lay golden eggs! 
Joaquin knows you are a Croesus. Besides, he wants 
to marry your daughter. He won’t kill his father in- 
law elect, especially when he can influence the girl by 
the fact that he has your life in his power.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


309 


^‘But he shan’t have her,” old Vernon muttered; 
‘‘no matter if he has to cut me up by inches, he 
shan’t have her! ” 

“Much voice have in the matter!” El Cojo 
grunted, contemptuously. “ He has her We’re 

all in his power, the women as well as we, and he can 
do what he pleases.” 

“ We’ll see about that,” I interrupted. “ Roll over 
on your stomach, Teddy, so I can get at your arms.” 

I had read of men knawing their bonds asunder, 
and what they had done I could do. So I bit and bit 
on that piece of rawhide until my jaws were sore, my 
lips bleeding, every tooth in my head aching furiously 
and the rope as strong as ever. Then I stopped. 

“Given it up, eh? ” El Cojo laughed. “It can’t be 
done, my boy. I’ve seen it tried, and it never suc- 
ceeded. ” 

Several hours passed, and we lay upon the floor, not 
talking much, but occasionally exchanging brief mono- 
syllables. As the time went by the room became hot- 
ter and hotter, perspiration ran over our faces and the 
ropes around our arms seemed to sink deeper into the 
flesh. Swarms of flies gathered upon us, and our heads 
were kept in constant motion as we tried to escape 
them or drive them away. The fresh cuts bn my face 
attracted their attention and every spot of the raw space 
was attacked. I could not shake them off. 

Oh! the misery of that weary, pitiless summer day! 
No one came near us, we were without food and worst 
of all without water, the heat was overpowering and the 
flies a ceaseless pest. Teddy and I tried mutual pro- 
tection at last, preferring heat to flies, and lay with our 
faces on each other’s breasts. El Cojo had gone into a 
corner and was extended along the side of the building 
with his face to the wall. Old Vernon seemed after a 
while to have succumbed, lying in a stupor with his 
head rolling from side to side and uttering feeble groans. 
As to Senor Tafalla, he lost his self-control completely 
about the middle of the afternoon and burst into in- 
coherent ravings. There was little life left in us, and 
when several men entered the room toward seven 
o’clock in the evening not one of our party even took 
the trouble to raise his head. 


310 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Diablo! but they’re a used-up lot! ” exclaimed the 
hated voice of Fabian Baraja. “ More dead than alive, 

I take it, Colonel. ” 

“Not overburdened with energy, certainly,” an- 
swered the unruffled tones of Vallonga. “Hola! 
seiiors^ wake up! You’ve had long enough time foi 
your siesta, so let’s have a little conversation. Give 
them water, some of you, and perhaps after that they’ll 
feel like eating something. ” 

His followers set to work, holding up our heads and 
pouring water down our parched throats. The fluid 
was lukewarm and not over-fresh, but to me it seemed 
the most delicious that I had ever tasted. Several 
moderate draughts revived me wonderfully; all of us 
were soon sitting up and taking a livelier interest in 
what was passing around us. 

“You can feed them now,” Vallonga ordered. 

One of the men placed a large dish filled with tortillas 
and frijoles in the middle of the floor. Bound as we 
were we contrived to eat it. 

“ You’ll finish us in the morning, eh?” El Cojo asked 
as coolly as if he were speaking of the probability that 
it would be a fine day. 

“Yes, I’ll begin on you after breakfast,” Vallonga 
replied in just as matter-of-fact tone?. I’ll take Senor 
Bellhurst the first. He ought to last until perhaps ten 
o’clock. If he doesn’t we’ll be disappointed. Then 
you’ll come, my dear Morales, and we won’t be quite 
so long with you. Indeed — this is what I came to 
speak about — if you’ll give me a hint as to where you’ve 
got your treasure cached. I’ll promise you on my word 
of honor to have you shot at once. What do you say? ’ 

“I say that you’ll never hold a peso of what I’ve 
laid by,” Morales rejoined with unmoved countenance. 

Bueno! Still sullen, eh? I thought you might 
like to speak by this time. Adios till to-morrow morn- * 
ing. Good-night to you and pleasant dreams, seiiorsB 

Vallonga turned and started for the door. Here he 
suddenly halted and exclaimed : 

“ I mustn’t have any of you walking in his sieep and 
disturbing the rest. Tie their legs, you fellows, and tie 
them well. Remain and see it done, Baraja. then join 
me at the house.” / 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


31I 

Under the direction of our dear friend Fabian we 
were flung on the ground in a twinkling and our feet 
and ankles were securely tied. 

“There!” Baraja sneered as he passed through the 
door. “If you get out of this hole, Senor El Cojo, 
you’ve more cunning than I’ve ever given you credit 
for. And you, my Major, be sure and not run away 
before morning.” 

The door banged behind him. Left to our own 
gloomy reflections, we said little. Then the gloom of 
absolute helplessness came on all of us. 

Hours went by, and we lay on the floor like helpless 
logs. The cruel cords made my limbs ache until it 
seemed they were losing sensibility. My thoughts 
wandered far away to my home in Pennsylvania, to the 
proud old man whom I had left alone with scarce a 
thought for what his feelings might be. Would he ever 
know how I met my fate? Would he wait until the 
end of his life in daily hope of seeing his scapegrace 
son once more? Then I gave a moan — “ Alys! ” But 
would they, doomed as it seemed to a far worse lot 
than mine, ever live to reach the United States? I did 
not believe it. A few days or weeks at most and 
they would be dead. Oh, God 1 was there no hope ! 
Could such damnable villainy as Vallonga medi- 
tated be allowed to proceed! Was there no escape 
for the proud and beautiful Evelyn and for the girl I 
loved ! 

Thoughts racked my spirit more than the cords that 
held me helpless. 

It must have been after twelve o’clock. I, motion- 
less and powerless as a corpse, lay on the floor of the 
storehouse ! Suddenly my heart made a leap and then 
stood still. 

I heard cautious footstep in the loft above ! 

Eagerly I strained my powers of hearing. There 
it was, that stealthy tread! Surely I could not be 
mistaken! Someone was moving slowly and with 
little noise across the floor of the garret. Who 
could it be? No enemy would enter in that fash- 
ion. The midnight prowler must necessarily be a 
friend. And a friend meant a chance for us! I com- 
pressed my lips and gritted my teeth, choking down 


312 A PASSING EMPEROR. 

the impulse that moved me to cry out, and bid our 
preserver hurry, to hurry for God’s sake! 

The hinges of the trap-door in the ceiling rasped 
harshly. Then all was still — for what seemed cent- 
uries! Horror! I must have been dreaming! I must 
have dozed for a moment, and the noises I had heard 
were but the suggestions of my fevered brain. I sank 
back in the misery of despair. 

There was a brushing, rustling sort of sound from 
the corner where the ladder stood. By Heaven! 
Someone was carefully descending, coming down one 
round at a time and feeling every step. 

Now the noise stopped. Whoever it was must be 
on the ground. 

A phosphorescent streak showed in the darkness, 
and a sulphur match sputtered merrily away. Then 
the flame caught the stick, and by its blaze I could see 
the dim outlines of a slender figure in ranchero dress. 
Brighter burned the match, and the holder lifted it, 
peering anxiously into the gloom. 

The' newcomer was without a hat. The flame 
lighted up the face for an instant, and then of a sud- 
den went out. But the instant had been long enough. 
The face was that of Alys Rowell ! 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE FIGHT FOR THE HORSES. 

“Jack!” an impatient, trembling voice whispered 
from out the gloom. 

I swallowed a great lump in my throat. 

“ Jack, I say, are you here ? Answer me! ” 

“ Here, Alys; here by the wall.” 

In a moment the dearest arms in the world were 
round my neck, and an adorable mouth was furiously 
kissing my filthy, sweat-begrimed face. 

“ Why don’t you put your arm around me, Jack ? ” 
she demanded instantly. 

“I can’t. We’re all tied, hand and foot. Have 
you a knife ? ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


313 


“Of course I have. I was so wild when you spoke 
that I forgot everything but you. I’ll have you free 
directly. ” 

A keen blade shore the strands of hide asunder, and 
I was free. I would have caught my darling liberator 
in my arms, but at the first movement I made I sank 
back, suffering terrible agony from returning circula- 
tion. 

“What is it. Jack?” my darling asked quickly. 
“ You’re not wounded ? ” 

“No. I’ve been tied up too long, that’s all. Don’t 
bother over me now. Hurry and release the others. 
Every second may be of value.” 

She did the work swiftly and was back at my side. 

“Let me help you. Jack! Tell me how,” she 
breathed in my ear. “ Isn’t there anything I can do? ” 

“ Rub my arms,” I directed. 

So she massaged my right arm with her delicate 
hands, and gradually the aching ceased and the 
strength came back. Then with its help I set to work 
on my left arm and my legs. Morales and the others 
were going through the same process, but with no 
sweetheart to help them. It must have been fully an 
hour before we were able to stand. While I was regain- 
ing my strength Alys told me how she had come to the 
rescue. 

“You can fancy how surprised we were this morn- 
ing, Jack, when we found out that we were prisoners. 
That horrid Vallonga was considerate enough not to 
wake us last night, and contented himself with taking 
precautions to prevent our leaving the room we oc- 
cupied. But when we opened the door to go to break- 
fast, one of his nasty, dirty Mexicans was in the hall, 
and made us go back into the room again. We didn’t 
know what to make of it and began to feel rather un- 
easy. After a time one of the women we saw dancing 
last night — the girl, you know, that we remarked — 
brought in our breakfast. She could speak a little 
English, and she told us that we were Vallonga’s 
prisoners. Then we were very much frightened.” 

Impatient as I was to hear her story I interrupted 
here, and it was impossible for Alys to speak for soms 
seconds. 


314 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“ Don’t, Jack ! ” she managed to say at last. “I 
know it’s dark in here, but the others are present all 
the same. So don’t do that any more, at least just 
now.” 

“ I won’t. Go on, ” I said meekly. 

“Well, after our breakfast things were taken away, 
Vallonga came in and talked to Evelyn. He was very 
polite, but he made her understand that he was her 
master, and that if she wished to save her father, and 
you, and Mr. Callahan, she must marry him at once. 
I can’t tell you all he said, but he talked a great deal. 
Finally he promised that you should all be spared and 
taken to Brownsville in safety if she would become his 
wife. So she said she would, and consented to marry 
him to-morrow.” 

“Well, I’ll be hanged!” I exclaimed. “By Jove! 
I’d never have believed it if any one else had said so. 
Evelyn Vernon agree to marry a cur like Vallonga!” 

“ Don’t you see how slie was placed, Jack ? It was to 
save her father and — and most of all Mr. Callahan. 
For, Jack, she loves him so she’d do anything to 
save him. Don’t you suppose I’d marry Vallonga, 
or anybody, if it had to be in order that your life 
should be spared?” Alys askeddndignantly. 

“ I’d sooner die a thousand deaths than have such a 
thing happen,” I protested. “ So don’t you ever try 
it. But go ahead with your story.” 

“After Evelyn promised to be his wife Vallonga 
went away,” Alys resumed, “and I can tell you we 
spent a mighty unhappy morning. Evelyn just sat and 
sat, looking at the wall, and nothing I could do or say 
would rouse her. But when the girl brought our 
luncheon there was a change. As soon as Jovita — 
that’s her name, and she’s a perfect jewel, too — had 
shut the door and put her tray on the table, she began 
to talk. She told us that Sehora Tafalla and Senora 
Morales were closely watched, and had sentinels in 
the rooms with them; that most of the men who 
came here with us had joined Vallonga, and those 
of the others who were still alive were confined 
in one of the rooms in the stable. Vallonga was 
treating them well, she said, for he believed that they 
would eventually take service with him also. But as 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


315 

for you and Senor Morales, she had learned from one 
of the traitors, who had been sort of a sweetheart to 
her, you would both be killed in the morning. 
The man promised to give her a good place to see you 
die, and told her that they intended to murder you 
with all kinds of terrible torments. We were to be 
sent away first, with a guard to see that we should not 
escape, and were to be made to think that you were 
still alive.” 

“ Not a bad scheme on Vallonga’s part.” 

“Yes. Isn’t he a cunning wretch ! He thought 
he’d kill Callahan and marry Evelyn just the same. 
When Evelyn understood what he was planning, she 
was almost crazy, and threw herself on the bed, refus- 
ing to hear any more. I was almost as bad, and before I 
knew it I was crying and begging Jovita to help us. I 
told her how it would kill me if you should die, and went 
on like a mad woman, promising her anything if she 
would only help you to get away. Then, Jack, the 
girl changed completely. She burst out crying and 
told me how the Senor Corchuelo had always been 
good to her and was her ho mbre^' and that she had 
loved him like a slave. When they took the rancho 
they murdered him. She said if anything could 
be done to help you and avenge Corchuelo she would 
find a way. Oh, Jack! You don’t know! I was 
almost mad with grief and despair! ” 

“ My poor darling,” I whispered, and Alys had to 
make me “stop ” a second time. 

“When Jovita came in the evening she had a plan,” 
my love went on. “ She had found out that you were 
shut up in this storehouse, and knew there was an out- 
side hatch in the roof. Her admirer had told her that 
all the sentinels posted to-night would be outside the 
walls of the rancho, and at the stables. The rest of 
the wretches were having a glorious time, drinking 
and gambling and dancing, in the paiio^ though 
Vallonga had ordered that they must stop their 
carouse at eleven o’clock That was our time to act, 
Jovita said. She would watch until all was quiet, and 
would knock twice on our door. Then one of us would 
have to go with her and try to liberate you. I said I 
would be the one. I wouldn’t hear anything to the 


3i6 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


contrary. All evening we heard the guitars and man- 
dolins in the patio^ and at times the wretches grew quite 
noisy in their enjoyment. But at eleven o’clock all was 
quiet, and we sat in the dark waiting for Jovita. At 
last her signal came. She said that all was clear and 
we would have no trouble. Vallonga and his men were 
in the other wing of the house and were sleeping with- 
out sentinels, confident in their videttes outside. She 
had brought a suit of boy’s clothes forme, and insisted 
on my wearing them, so I had to do it. And I’m very 
glad it’s dark.” 

“ Don’t bother about that, sweetheart. Youare 
whatever clothes you wear,” I assured her. 

“Anyway, I’m glad it’s dark,” Alys reiterated. 
“ After I was dressed Jovita gave me a knife and a re- 
volver she had stolen from the man I told you of, and 
we set out. We crept along the hall and got out of the 
house by a side door. Then, in the shadow of the wall, 
we followed it around to this storehouse. Jovita said 
I must go in, for you would know me. So she helped 
me up on the roof and I found the hatch and got into 
the garret. I had to move slowly, for it was so dark I 
couldn’t see anything at all. I thought I’d never find 
the trap-door. But I did, and here I am.” 

“And very glad we are that you are here, Senorita^ 
muttered El Co jo, in suppressed tones. “Is the gfrl, 
Jovita, outside?” 

“She said she’d wait in the shadow.” 

Bueno ! I’m feeling enough like myself to begin 
operations,” the chief declared. “Please let me have 
the revolver you say the girl gave you.” 

“No, that’s for Jack,” Alys rebelled. “Here, Jack, 
you take it, for I’ve been dreadfully afraid that it 
would go off.” 

“What are you going to do. Morales?” I inquired, 
as I took the weapon and quietly passed it over to El 
Cojo. 

“The girl outside can tell me where they’ve caged 
the nine fellows who were true. I’ll pay them a visit 
first. Once I’ve got them out of limbo I’ll bring them 
here. There’s a secret armory in the rancho. I’ll 
draw on its supplies for the first time. Can you use a 
carbine, Senor Juan?” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


317 


“Try me,” I said, briefly. 

“I’ve got some beauties — seven-shooters, all of them. 
Adios! I’ll not be long.” 

The ladder creaked. Presently we heard El Cojo’s 
quick footsteps on the floor above. Evidently the 
chief was familiar with his path, for he betrayed no 
hesitation in his movements. 

“As we’ll probably have some time to wait before 
the chief returns, suppose we sit down? ” I suggested. 

“By the Powers! ” it’s enough of the floor I’ve had 
this day to last me a lifetime,” remarked Teddy Cal- 
lahan ruefully from the darkness. 

“ Where is Evelyn, Alys? ” came to us in the voice 
of Lucky Vernon. 

“ She’s waiting in our room. Jovita is to go back 
and tell her what she is to do.” 

“ Humph! And by this time Jovita is accompanying 
Senor Morales. I think you’d better go and bring 
Evelyn here.” 

“Not if I have any voice in the matter,” I broke 
in. 

“At all events, Alys,” Lucky Vernon resumed, 
“you come over to where I am, I wish to talk with 
you.” 

“ Miss Rowell will stay where she is, Mr. Vernon,” 
I said, throwing my arm around my darling’s waist and 
drawing her close to me. “ I’ve some things to tell 
her myself. ” 

^‘But ” 

“ See here, old gentleman,” Teddy was the speaker, 
“ we’re in a mighty tight place, and before we get out 
we’ll most likely have to do some tall fightin’. Now I 
advise ye to save all the breath ye have. Let Jack 
and Miss Alys alone, and if you want company I’ll sit 
by ye and keep ye quiet.” 

The old chap subsided. And Alys and I sat down 
on the floor with our backs to the wall, and my arms 
held her and her head was on my shoulder. Serious 
as was our situation we forgot our danger, we were 
together. 

My love gave a great sigh of content and nestled 
close in my arms. Then the time went by very rap- 
idly till El Cojo was among us again. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


31^ 


“What have you done ?” I asked anxiously. 

“A great deal!” El Cojo’s voice was jubilant. 
“My men — nine of them — are outside. They had not 
been bound; so there wasn’t any time lost. They 
could move and follow me. I made them wait in the 
shadow of the wall; then paid my visit to the armory. 
Every one of my fellows has a Spencer carbine and a 
brace of revolvers. I didn’t forget you, either. When 
they come in they’ll bring your weapons with 
them. Jovita showed- me where Senorita Vernon is 
roomed; and she’s outside, too. I had a little more 
trouble in releasing my wife and Senora Tafalla. But 
I did it, and without arousing any one. Moreover, 
Vallonga is short just two of his party,” El Cojo fin- 
ished with a savage laugh. 

“ Short two of his party?” 

“ He had a fellow sleep across the door of my wife’s 
room, and another before that of the Senora Tafalla. 
Well, he’ll find his sentinels there in the morning.” 

“ You killed them, then ? ” 

“So scientifically that they never knew what hit 
them. For Dios ! I’ll show our friend Bardja before 
he’s many hours older that El Cojo has not forgotten 
his trade.” 

“What is your plan? ” I demanded. 

“A very simple one. The whole of our party will 
gather in the room. I will remain outside, close to 
the door, and fasten it after the last man, and join 
you by the means Senorita Rowell used to enter, 
rhen we’ll wait for day.” 

“But why the devil are you going to shut us in?” 
I remonstrated. 

“Softly, softly, my dear Juan. The door is simply 
held by a wooden hasp. A strong man could burst 
out very easily. You see, this is the way things will 
happen. By daybreak the enemy will be stirring. 
The first thing they’ll do will be to bring the horses 
out and water them from the troughs in the patio. 
They’ll be so busy over that they won’t be apt to 
trouble about seeing if the prisoners they had at the 
stables are still there. Meanwhile, some one of the 
fellows in the house will leave his room. He can’t 
miss those two corpses in the hall. He’ll rouse the 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


319 


Others. They’ll rush into the paiio^ and seeing the 
door of our prison still closed they’ll imagine the men 
I have outside did the work. Then they’ll go to the 
stables and find their prisoners gone. The next im- 
pulse will be to come here, and no doubt they’ll run 
up in a crowd. The minute they open the door we’ll 
give them good-morning with our carbines and then 
rush them. We’ll drive them out through the gate 
like so many sheep. Three of my fellows will saddle 
the best horses, and we’ll leave the rancho by the rear 
gate. I know the road on which Juan of Perote is 
coming; we’ll ride until we’re with him. There, how 
do you like my plan?” El Cojo concluded. 

“Ye have more knowledge of this kind of warfare 
than any man here, so I move that everything be left 
to ye,” Teddy answered, and the rest of us agreed 
with him. 

'‘'‘Bueno! I’ll bring the men in and place them at 
once,” said Morales. 

Under El Cojo’s direction those who were waiting 
outside now entered. The females were placed to- 
gether in the corner of the room where the ladder stood. 
The chief then ranged all of the men, including our- 
selves, along the sides of the building, giving each a 
position whence his fire could command the door. 
Four of the released guerilleros vitrt doubly armed, and 
they handed their extra weapons to Teddy, Senor 
Tafalla, Lucky Vernon, and myself. With a Spencer 
carbine in my hand and a brace of revolvers buckled 
around my waist I felt ready for anything, and Teddy 
assured the company at large that he was now content 
but for one thing, viz. : someone to shoot at. 

A few moments later Morales rejoined us by the 
ladder, and we sat waiting in the darkness. The 
chief was crouched by the door, and kept peering 
through a crack he had widened with his bowie. 

“ Ah! there’s the first flash of the sun, and por Dios ! 
one of the dogs is astir already ! ” he whispered. “ Now 
the cur’s stretching his arms and yawning over there 
by the main gate. Diablo ! he’s gone to rouse the 
others. ” 

Perhaps five or ten minutes elapsed. 

‘ ‘ They’re bringing the horses out now and filling the 


320 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


troughs,” resumed the chief. Satanas ! how deliber- 
ate they are ! it’s plain that their potations were heavy 
last night. But what do I see! a fellow from the 
house. Carrajo I I had hoped they would be longer in 
rising within there. ” 

A chorus of shouts from the patio came to our ears. 

“ He’s told them the sentinels are dead and the wo- 
men gone,” El Cojo said, with a laugh of satisfaction. 
“ There they go, all in a crowd, to the stables. Ready 
now, muchachos^ they’ll not waste much time over 
there.” 

The clicking of gunlocks was heard in the room. 
Every eye was fastened on the door. 

“ Here they come ! ” Morales whispered. “ Make 
every shot tell. Let them get the door wide open be- 
fore you fire. ” 

He sprang back from where he had been kneeling, 
and raised his carbine. 

The sound of swiftly approaching feet and rough 
voices swearing oaths of vengeance came from with- 
out. A rude hand crashed against the boards of the 
door, and it was flung violently open. 

The impetuous jarochos who led the angry foemen 
stopped as if turned to stone at sight of our kneeling 
men and leveled carbines. Then came the crashing 
volley, the room was filled with smoke, while shrieks 
of agony told how well our shots had been aimed. 

“ Forward ! My bravos !” shouted Morales. “Charge 
and give no quarter ! Remember Corchuelo !” 

Rushing through the door and springing clear of the 
smoke, I halted and cast a rapid glance over the patio. 
Five of the jarochos lay dead before the storehouse. 
Veiling like fiends our party pressed hotly after the 
panic-stricken foe, El Cojo in the lead. Giving Val- 
longa’s men no time to rally, we rushed them across 
the patio and through the main gate. This, by the chief’s 
order, was immediately closed and barred. Nine more 
bloody corpses marked the flight of the enemy across 
the court-yard. 

“ Now, lively, muchachos ! ” cried the chief. “ Get 
the saddles on the horses.” 

The men ran toward the stables to carry out his 
order. Here they suffered the consequences of their 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


321 


too rapid advance. Five of Vallonga’s men, instead 
of running out through the gate, had managed to gain 
the shelter of these outbuildings. Hastily barricading 
the door of the harness-room, they manned the win- 
dows, and a volley of revolver shots stretched the 
two foremost of our fellows dead on the ground. The 
others scattered right and left, returning the fire with 
a volley that did no harm. 

“Perdition!” shouted Morales. “This comes of 
being too eager at the start. But we must have sad- 
dles and bridles. Follow me! ” 

Teddy and I ran with the chief into that division of 
the stables situated on the right of the gate. The 
harness-room was on the left. As I have stated, the 
gateway was an arched passage in the wall, and the 
adobes rose for several feet above its ceiling. In the 
room nearest to the passage the chief darted to the 
farthest corner, and astonished us by climbing up the 
wall. 

“Come on!” he said, over his shoulder. “Notice the 
steps; you’ll have easy work. ” 

A number of iron bars set crosswise in the angle of 
the room formed a first-rate sort of ladder. Mount- 
ing behind Morales, I saw him disappear into a square 
hole in the wall, cut just below the roof. I fol- 
lowed with all haste, and, crawling along on my hands 
and knees for about twenty feet, came to the other 
end of the passage. An iron ring was hung from a 
rafter at a sufficient distance out from the opening to 
permit one’s grasping it with both hands, and thus 
supporting the body while the legs were drawn free 
from the tunnel. A ladder similar to the one on the 
other side gave easy descent to the floor below. 

Teddy was close behind me, and we found El Cojo 
waiting for us. Beyond him the passage stretched, 
black and gloomy. 

“Where are we?” I whispered, hurriedly. 

“In our secret entrance below the stables. But 
we’ve no time to lose. Walk straight after me and 
stop when I tell you,” Morales answered. 

Perhaps fifty steps we made in the dark. Then El 
Cojo whispered: “Halt, while I strike a match.” 

The light flared up and showed us a flight of wide 


322 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


wooden steps, five or six of them, set in the wall of 
the tunnel directly in front of us, and stretching to a 
wooden floor above our heads. 

Morales stooped for a moment; then a part of the 
floor swung noiselessly down, like a shutter. We 
mounted the steps and emerged into the harness-room 
held by the five jarochos. Occupied by their foes with- 
out, the men never heeded our presence. El Cojo 
drew a revolver, motioning us to do likewise. With a 
rapid gesture he assigned the bandit on the extreme 
left to me. Another peremptory wave of the hand 
pointed out the fellow on the right to Teddy. Our 
pistols rose, we fired together. 

“ Riddle the other two! ” the chief cried in fierce 
tones, as he fired a second time, and we obeyed! The 
room was ours. 

Rapidly El Cojo tore away the fastenings and 
shouted for his men to enter. They swarmed in and 
were speedily at work, tearing saddles and bridles 
from their pegs to hasten back with them into the patio. 

Catching my own pet charger I swiftly saddled and 
bridled him for Alys, and then secured as good a beast 
as I could pick out in the hurry for myself. 

“ To horse, Caballeros, to horse! ” came in the voice 
of Morales. “The gate can stand but a few mo- 
ments more, and they are too many for us.” 

A shower of blows ringing upon the wood of the 
main gate was good evidence that the enemy had ral- 
lied. We leaped to our saddles and galloped across 
the patio to the storehouse, where the ladies awaited 
us under the protection of Lucky Vernon and Tafalla. 

Without dismounting I caught Alys in my arms and 
swung her up to the back of the horse I had prepared 
for her. 

“Which way ? ” I shouted to El Cojo, as I saw that 
the others had mounted. 

“Follow me!” he called back, as he pushed his 
horse into a gallop once more, and rode toward the 
rear exit. 

Up to this time the house had been quiet. Now the 
report of a gun suddenly rang out from its walls, and 
one of El Cojo’s men gave a piercing shriek of agony 
as he rolled under the hoofs of the horses. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


323 

A second shot followed almost immediately. Lucky 
Vernon, riding to my right, pitched heavily forward 
on the neck of his mustang, clutched frantically at the 
mane and held on for a moment, the gushing blood 
dyeing his white beard a horrid crimson. 

Keep your seat if you love your life! ” I shouted 
to him. The old man nodded feebly back; but the 
next bound of his steed unhorsed him, and he fell to 
the ground. 

“ Go on, Alys! ” I ordered, as I leaped from my sad- 
dle and ran to her uncle’s aid. But the little golden- 
haired beauty did not belie the mettle she had shown 
on the night before. Catching my horse’s bridle she 
pulled in her own charger and waited for me. Cal- 
lahan, too, was beside me as I raised the speculator 
from the ground. 

“They got the old man that time. Jack,” he said as 
we bore the helpless body to my horse and laid it 
across the saddle. “ Right through his neck the bul- 
let went, and if he’s not dead now, he hasn’t much 
longer to live.” 

“They shan’t have his body, anyway!” I answered 
through my set teeth as I sprang upon my horse’s 
back and gathered old Vernon in my arms. 

“Hurrah for the principles ye advocate!” Teddy 
said, imperturbably, as his sombrero was struck from his 
head by a third bullet from the Rancho. “ It seems 
the divils have a spite against my wearin’ a hat.” 

“ Don’t stop for it now, you fool ! ” I called, as I 
drove my spurs home, and in company with Alys made 
for the rear gate, which El Cojo having passed with the 
rest of the party had left open for our retreat. 

The Irishman bent in his saddle, recovered his som- 
brero, and galloped after us. As we dashed through 
the hole in the wall the main gate gave way with a 
crash, and the rallied and furious enemy poured into 
the courtyard. 

Swiftly we raced down a gentle slope toward the 
little river. Before us rode our friends; El Cojo lead- 
ing, urged his horse into the water without hesitation. 
The stream was fordable at that point. 

As we crossed, Teddy rode close to me, and catch- 
ing up the water in his rescued sombrero he dashed it 


324 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


repeatedly in Lucky Vernon’s face. But the old man 
gave no sign, lying helpless and inert in my arms. El 
Cojo, having sent on the rest, had remained behind, 
and greeted us as we rode out on the shore with a 
curt “ Is he living ? ” 

“Don’t know,” wa?s my equally curt response. 

“ Better drop him, Senor Juan, for you’ll need all 
your horse’s strength. Chingaro ! There they come 
already! Ride now! It’s only a scant three miles.” 

To do them justice, the enemies we had left at the 
Rancho had been speedy. Before El Cojo had finished 
speaking two dozen of them had dashed through the 
gate, and were coming toward us with their horses on 
a run. 

Though my horse was doubly burdened, I put him to 
the top of his speed. We kept together, and flew on 
side by side, Alys at my left hand and Teddy on my 
right, with El Cojo in the lead. 

“Where are we going?” I shouted to Morales, 
while the sandy plain slipped away under our horses' 
stretching gallop. 

“ There’s a motte, a small clump of trees, with a 
good spring, too, that I’ve told the others to ride for. In 
its shelter we can stand them off till night. Before 
that time Juan of Perote will appear. He’ll be sure to 
make for the spring to water his cattle,” yelled back 
Morales. 

“And suppose he doesn’t appear, what then?” I 
bellowed. 

But he will ! I know Juan of PeroteJ was the re- 
ply, so emphatically given that I felt a thrill of confi- 
dence in the hoped for Juan, and bfegan to count on 
his arrival as implicitly as did El Cojo. 

The time we made during that few minutes’ ride 
must have been uncommonly good. But our foemen 
pressed hard in our rear; their shots began to sing 
about our ears, and their wild yells of vengeance rose 
clearer and clearer with every bound of our panting 
steeds, till into the welcome shelter of the friendly 
trees we darted at last. Flinging ourselves on the 
ground, we sent a defiant volley at our baffled pur- 
suers, now scarce three hundred yards away. None of 
them fell, but they drew bridle, and hastened to jump 


A PASSmG EMPEHOR. 325 

from their horses, lying flat on the earth as they 
returned our fire. 

Aided by Teddy 1 carried Lucky Vernon to the 
spring in the center of the grove. There leaving him 
to the care of his sorrowing daughter and neice, we re- 
joined our line of battle. 

Our fighting force now numbered but ten men 
Ensconced behind the trees on the edge of the motte 
we held Vallonga’s men at a respectful distance. And 
though they began spreading out so as to gradually 
surround our position they did not dare to come to 
close quarters. As I lay behind my tree, watching 
eagerly for a chance to draw a bead on either Val-- 
longa, Pedillo, or Baraja, I felt a slight touch on my 
shoulder. It was the Senora Inez who had crawled to 
my side. 

“The old American has come to his senses and 
wishes to speak to you,” she said. “ You had better 
go at once, for he is but just alive and that’s all. Give 
me your carbine. I’ll keep this place safe until you re- 
turn. ” 

“You, Senora?” I exclaimed. 

“Yes, I. Trust me, I can shoot better than many 
a man among those out yonder. But go now.” 

Handing her my carbine I crawled back among the 
trees and gained the spring. 

Lying with his head in Evelyn's lap, Lucky Vernon 
greeted me with an effort at a smile. 

“The score between us is wiped away, John Bell- 
hurst,” he said in a whisper, speaking in a halting 
voice and with evident difficulty. “I heard what you 
said about leaving me behind. I wasn’t quite so dead 
as I looked, eh?” 

“Let us hope you’re very far from dead, Mr. Ver- 
non,” I answered earnestly. “Brace up, and prove 
that it takes more than one Mexican bullet to kill a 
man like you. ” 

“I’d like to, my boy, but it can’t be. My life is 
done, that’s all there is to it. Before I go for good, 
though, I want to tell you that I feel how greatly I 
misjudged you in many ways. The man who stuck by 
his enemy as you did to-day will never give a woman 
cause to repent for loving him. You and Alys will be 


326 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


happy. You have my blessing on your marriage day, 
remember that.” 

The old man gasped for breath and then continued : 

“ One thing I’d like to ask of you before I go. You 
may remember that you once refused to take my hand. 
Won’t you — now — to — to show that all is — is right be- 
tween us? ” 

I extended my hand and Lucky Vernon pressed it 
with all his remaining strength. 

‘‘ Be a friend to my girl, too,” he panted. “ She’ll 
need one, maybe, in the years to come. I see you 
will, your face answers to that. Now,” withdrawing 
his hand, “go back to your post. If you get a chance 
at Vallonga send him a remembrance from me. 
Good-by.” 

“ Good-by,” I said sadly, and Lucky Vernon and I 
closed accounts. Some ten minutes after he died in 
his daughter's arms. 

Relieving the Seiiora I resumed my participation in 
the defense. Throughout all the morning we lay quiet, 
occasionally exchanging shots with our enemies. But 
the cowardly miscreants who had overcome us in our 
sleep had but little desire to expose their lives in an 
attempt to storm our position. 

It was nearly noon. A sudden commotion took 
place among the enemy. We could see them running 
to and fro, and they were soon hastily mounting their 
horses. Gathering in a body they sent a harmless 
shower of balls into the grove and rode away toward 
the Rancho. 

“Wasn’t I a true prophet?” El Cojo said, as he 
rose and carelessly strolled toward me. “ Did I not 
say that Juan of Perote would come? ” 

The chieftain’s faith in his lieutenant had not been 
misplaced. Within ten minutes the grove was crowded 
with the friendly and sympathetic followers of Juan of 
Perote. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


327 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE TRAP AT MATAMORAS. 

The time was three days later; the hour was 
perhaps seven o’clock in the evening. Texas was in 
plain sight across the Rio Grande. Danger seemed to 
be a thing of the past. 

Lying back in my chair with my heels upon the rail- 
ing of the veranda of the hotel, I puffed languidly at 
my cigarette and wondered if I would see Alys again 
that night. We had reached Matamoras the day 
before, escorted by a strong body of men furnished 
by Juan of Perote. Though the kind attentions of 
Vallonga’s bravos had left us penniless, we suffered 
no inconvenience on that account. For El Cojo had 
friends among the business men of the town, and on 
his recommendation one of them honored a draft for 
a considerable sum drawn by me upon the Hon. John 
Bellhurst. 

The morning had been spent in securing suitable 
outfits for ourselves and the girls and in arranging for 
the funeral of Lucky Vernon, whose body we had 
brought with us. The old man had been buried that 
afternoon. Evelyn had, of course, retired after the 
ceremony, accompanied by the sympathizing Alys. 
Teddy was near them, trying to comfort his sweet- 
heart. 

The arrival of an apparently well-known haciendado^ 
and the consequent sudden and simultaneous movement 
of all the loungers in the direction of the bar-room, left 
me the sole occupant of the porch. So when a pretty 
Mexican girl, bearing a flat basket heaped high with 
clusters of white and scarlet flowers upon her head, 
came up the steps and looked about the deserted piazza, 
it seemed only natural that she should come to my chair 
at once to display her posies to the only customer vis- 
ible, under a flickering lamp at the entrance. 

“ The sefior was waiting for me, I can see,” she said 
archly, as she halted before my chair. “ Here are 
flowers, beautiful flowers, which the Senor will offer 
to the lady of his affections,” 


328 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


‘‘The Senor will do no such thing, my girl,” I an- 
swered, smiling at her ready impudence. “The lady 
of his affections is in no mood for flowers, nor does he 
intend to offer her any.” 

“ But look at them, Senor. So sweet! so fresh! so 
fragrant! Surely the heart of his lady must bound 
with gratitude when — ” 

“Enough, little one, you’re wasting your time. I 
don’t want the flowers. Here’s a peso for your bright 
eyes and nimble tongue. Be off and let me alone.” 
I threw the coin into her basket. 

But the girl did not go. 

“ By his speech the Senor is an Americano,” she 
said, eyeing me attentively. 

“ If so, what of that? ” 

“If the Sefiorx'^ an Americano he doubtless -knows 
other Americanos among the guests of the hotel? ” 

“And again, what of that?” 

“Perhaps the Senor can help me to find the person 
I seek — an Americano, El Senor Bellhurst. ” 

“I myself am Senor Bellhurst.” 

“Ah! and I am Pepita!” the girl said, frankly. 

“What do you want with me? ” I asked with a slight 
feeling of surprise. 

“My f ather intrusted me with a message for the 

“And who is your father?” 

“ Hush, Senor the girl said. Depositing her basket 
on the chair next mine, she bent forward until her lips 
nearly touched my ear. “ My father is Pepe Val- 
verde,” she whispered, glancing about her as if in fear 
. that she might be overheard. 

“ That fact leaves me as wise as I was before. Who 
is heV 

“ Surely you must remember him, Senor Bellhurst,” 
Pepita urged, using the same guarded method of 
speaking. “He was one of General Mejia’s grooms, 
the most trusted of them all. He has held the Senor 
Bellhurst’s horse for him many a time during the siege 
of Queretaro.” 

“Ah, perhaps so. It seems to me I do recollect the 
name. Yes, I’m quite sure I’ve heard it. But what 
does your father, the ex-groom of General Mejia, want 
with me,” I asked. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


329 


“ Seiior^ ” Pepita said solemnly, “my father held the 
general’s horse on the fatal morning when Lopez sold 
the Emperor. After the general mounted he leaned 
forward on his horse’s neck, and, taking a packet from 
his breast, he placed it in my father’s hands. ‘ Pepe,’ 
General Mejia said, ‘ I know you to be brave, loyal, 
and trustworthy. Therefore I confide to you these 
papers, writings of the highest importance to me and 
my family. Guard the papers I have given you as 
you would your life, and at your first chance restore 
them to me; that is, if I escape. In case I do not, 
you must manage to place them in the keeping of some 
gentleman of my staff. Whoever gets them must de- 
liver them to Madame Mejia.’ There, that is 

what your general said to my father. These papers 
he wishes to give you to-night.” 

“ But why didn’t he deliver them to the general’s 
widow?” 

“ He dare not. My father is known in the City of 
Mexico as a soldier of the Emperor.” 

“Then why didn’t he bring them here in person in- 
stead of sending you? That would have been simpler, 
wouldn’t it?” I asked, eyeing Pepita somewhat sharply. 

“Somewhat too simple, Senor Bellhurst, ” the girl 
rejoined quickly but unhesitatingly. “ My father dare 
not show his face at this inn, for the same reason he 
dare not visit the city of Mexico. El Cojo knows he 
was one of Maximilian’s soldiers. My poor father is 
in hiding.” 

“If he doesn’t favor society with his presence, how 
did he know of my being in the town?” I queried sus- 
piciously. 

“Friends keep him informed of the names of all 
strangers who come from the South, Senor,'’ Pepita 
explained. “He judged that you would make for 
your country by this route, and so he came here. And 
not a person has entered or left the town without his 
knowing it.” 

“But why is he especially looking for me? He 
could have found other men who served on General 
Mejia’s staff, couldn’t he?” 

Senor, you are the last of your chief’s military 
family. All but you are either dead or in the mines 


330 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


for life. Will you come for your murdered general? 
the girl said simply — though there was a pleading 
flash in her brilliant eyes. 

I thought of old PapTomasito, as he faced the firing 
party. These papers might be the fortune of his 
widow and his son. “Lead me to your father,” I 
said quickly. 

As I followed my graceful guide, I could not help 
noticing her beauty, despite the growing gloom. “ It’s 
just as well the fair Alys doesn’t see Pepita,” I re- 
flected cautiously. 

As I watched the flower maiden trip coquettishly 
along, she turned her bright eyes upon me and 
laughed: “On my oath you’re a handsome gringo! 
Jotw! aqui Senor Americano ! ” 

“ Impudent little baggage! ” I muttered lazily, as I 
stepped beside her. And yet I was by no means 
offended at what she had said. For if he will be 
honest and confess it, there isn’t a man in the world 
who doesn’t swallow flattery as greedily as a child 
does bonbons; especially if the flatterer be female 
and fascinating. Pepita was both. Not that I had 
the least idea of being lax in my allegiance to Alys. 
Only the girl was pretty. 

Pepita turned to the left. We were soon out of 
sight from the hotel. The dusk had given way to 
genuine darkness. The half-mocking, half-caressing 
notes of Pepita’s voice made the walk seem short. 
“To see you strolling along so carelessly,” she 
laughed, “one wouldn’t think you had by your side 
the prettiest girl in Matamoras. ” 

“Are you the prettiest girl in Matamoras, then? ” I 
asked, laughing. 

“ So all the men say, ’’she answered naively. “ Per- 
haps you think they don’t speak truly? ” 

“Oh, they are all models of veracity. I’ll swear,” I 
asserted. “But it wasn’t to meet that I left the 
hotel. Where is your father? He's the one for whom 
my walk was taken.” 

“I’ll take you to him,” pouted Pepita. “We turn 
off at this point.” She hurried me from the main 
thoroughfare into a dark, and, so far as I could judge, 
decidedly squalid alley. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


331 


“So, if it had been for the purpose of seeing me, 
you wouldn’t have come?” my guide continued as she 
led me along, and I felt her press my arm with her 
soft little fingers 

“1 didn’t say that, did I?” I returned, somewhat 
amused at the question. 

“No, but you meant it. You’d much rather find 
out about a lot of old papers not worth a claco than 
talk to me, wouldn’t you?” 

“Frankly, I would. ‘ I don’t care very greatly 
about talking to women, as a rule.” 

“What! x\nd you so strong and handsome that 
you’ve only to look at a nmchacha to turn her head ! 1 

don’t believe you. Follow me in now, we’ve arrived. 
Tall one! don’t bump your head, the roof is low.” 

We dived into an open doorway, and guided by 
Pepita 1 took some twenty steps along a passage that 
was dark as the infernal regions. 

Then we stopped, while she appeared to fumble 
with some fastenings. 

After a minute or so of labor a door swung open 
and Pepita swiftly pulled me into a room that was 
dimly lighted by a single kerosene lamp, its wick 
turned down so low as to barely allow its keeping 
alight. The young woman secured the door behind 
us and then went to the table on which the lamp stood. 
A quick turn of her nimble fingers and I was able to 
plainly view my surroundings in the blaze of light that 
now filled the room. 

The apartment was large, and though very meanly 
furnished it was clean. A rough deal table and several 
chairs stood about. In one of the farther corners a 
large screen was placed, probably to conceal the bed, 

1 supposed. In the corner nearest me, to my left, 
were piled several mangas and serapes. 

“ Sit down in that chair, Senor^'" Pepita said, point- 
ing to one that stood by the table, with its back to the 
above-mentioned pile of cloaks. As I obeyed she 
went to a sort of cupboard in the wall, then coming 
back to the table she placed thereon a glass and a long- 
necked black bottle. 

“ Let me give you some aguardiente after your walk, ” 
she suggested, pouring out a stiff drink of the liquor 


332 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


as she spoke. “ My father, I see, has not yet come 
in. He would be grieved if he had cause to think me 
inhospitable. ” 

“Thank you, none for me, Pepita,” I answered, re- 
fusing the proffered glass with decision. “ How long 
will it be before your father comes? ” 

“ Quien sabe? And until he comes don’t you think 
it would be much better for you to smooth those ugly 
wrinkles out of your forehead and be kind to his 
daughter? ” As Pepita spoke she set the glass down 
on the table and drew one of the other chairs so near 
to mine that her shapely thigh pressed close against 
me. 

“Of course I’ll drive away the wrinkles if it will please 
you. There, is that better? ” I said smiling, and at 
the same time edging from her a trifle. 

“Much better. But you mustn’t move away. We 
Mexican girls want to sit close to a man — when we 
like him. And I like you.” 

^ “Much obliged for your frankness. But what will 
your father think if he comes in and finds us such very 
good friends? ” I jeered. 

“ I don’t care what he thinks. I like to sit close to 
you and look into your eyes Dios ! But you have 
handsome eyes! They are bright and beautiful as the 
stars in heaven.” 

As she spoke Pepita leaned forward to look into my 
face, resting her hand on the seat of my chair, behind 
me. I felt her naked arm against my side. 

“You mustn’t say such silly things to me, my dear 
Pepita, ” I remonstrated. ‘ ‘ I know I’m only a ‘ Gringo, ’ 
but it’s not fair for you to poke fun at me in your own 
house.” 

“ I’m not poking fun at you,” the young lady re- 
turned with an enticing pout of her red mouth. “ You 
are handsome, and I will say so. You are better to 
look at than any man I have ever seen. Ah! Seiior^ 
we Mexicanas are made of other stuff than the women 
of your cold North. We love in the flash of an eye, 
and we cannot help telling our love. To the man we 
love we grant anything. You made my heart bound in 
my bosom when I first saw you, Seiior^ and now I can- 
not help myself, I love you, I tell you I love you. 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


333 


and there is nothing you could ask me that I would 
not do for you.” 

With a movement quick as a panther’s spring, Pepita 
threw her free arm about my body under my coat. In 
a second her palpitating form was nestled against me, 
her hands met behind my back, and her hot lips 
sought mine. 

“Stop, you little devil! quit it, I tell you!” I de- 
manded, endeavoring to escape from her fervid em- 
brace. She clung to me like the infernal little serpent 
that she was, and it was only by the exertion of some 
force that I was able to break her embrace and hold her 
off to arm’s length. As we struggled I felt her hands 
about my waist, but I thought nothing of it, and at- 
tached no importance to a last effort she made before 
her clasp was loosened — a movement as if she were 
throwing something from her. 

“Now, young woman,” I said, as I held her by the 
shoulders, and gave her a slight shake, “the sooner 
you come to your senses the better for you. I’m no 
prey for hawks of your kind. Tell me at once why 
you brought me here. It’s easy to see that your story 
of General Mejia was a lie.” 

“But it was not, Senor^ I swear it was not,” Pepita 
stammered. “My father will be here presently, and I 
beg you to wait for him. If he finds you gone he will 
beat me.” 

“Then, I’ll wait. But you just behave yourself. 
Don’t dare to try any more of your love-making. Re- 
member, I mean what I say.” 

My hands gave Pepita a warning shake, and I 
released her. 

The girl favored me with a nasty glance, and stood 
before me for a moment in sullen silence. Then she 
sprang rapidly past me, and caught up one of the 
mangas from the heap in the corner. 

“I’ll go look for my father, Setwr.'' 

Pepita opened the door and half crossed the thresh- 
old. Then she turned her head over her shoulder and 
gazed at me with an evil smile. 

“ she said, emphatically, “during the next 

half-hour, think of Pepita.” 

The door closed. Was she fastening it on the outside? 


334 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Crash ! 

The fall of the large screen I have mentioned as 
covering a farther corner of the room made me turn 
my head. It went down on the floor with a bang, and 
from the unveiled recess three men advanced a few 
steps forward and then halted, eyeing me with smiles 
of triumphant hatred. Three men, the deadliest ene- 
mies I had in the world — Vallonga, Fabian Baraja, and 
Pedillo. 

No one spoke for a few seconds, and I did not even 
leave my chair, but gazed coolly at my foes with the 
utmost outward composure. To tell the truth, I was 
not a bit frightened. Each of the scoundrels held a 
naked machete in his right hand, and I promptly 
guessed that if they had firearms they did not intend 
to use them for fear of attracting the attention of 
persons not concerned in their plans. My revolver 
was belted around my waist, concealed by my coat. 
I felt that I could kill them all before they could reach 
me. 

Baraja was the first to break the silence. 

*^Santissima Virgen ! But betakes it coolly. Not 
even the quiver of an eyelid! Didn’t I judge him 
rightly, papa, when I said he was fit to lead 
guerilleros? ” 

“ If he’s cool now he’ll be hot enough in a few min- 
utes,” came the curt tones of Vallonga. He moved a 
step nearer. 

I had by constant practice become an adept at “pull 
and shoot” work with a revolver. As Vallonga stirred, 
my right hand flew back to my hip and grasped — the 
empty air. My holster was empty ! 

“Ha! ha! ” 

“Ho! ho!’* 

“He! he!” 

The three roared in chorus, the hoarse bark of 
Baraja and the shrill cackle of Pedillo mingling with 
the mellow notes of Vallonga’s hearty laughter, that I 
knew so well of old. 

“ I fear you won’t find your gun, my dear Juan, ” he 
said in tones of affected commiseration. “To tell you 
the truth, little Pepita relieved you of it. During that 
touching love scene of a few moments ago, she pulled it 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


335 


from your belt and tossed it on that pile of scrapes 
there, and then secured it without your suspecting her. 
Clever little thing, isn’t she? Hold on, there! What 
are you about to do? Nonsense, Juan, you can’t fight 
us with a lamp.” 

For I had grasped that important article of house- 
hold furniture. 

“I’m not going to fight you with it. Merely wish 
to place it in ‘safety so that it won’t get broken,” I 
sneered, putting the lamp on a little bracket set in the 
wall. Then with a sudden movement I tore one of the 
stout legs of the table from its fastening. 

“Now, you miserable Greasers, if you use nothing but 
your brush-hooks. I’ll pound the life out of all three of 
you,” I cried. 

My eye was on Pedillo, and I saw the point of the 
aged wretch’s machete rise, while his knees bent for 
the spring forward. 

At that very moment there was a thump against the 
door, and a well-known voice was heard to say from 
the other side of the boards : “Begad! But it seems 
there’s a spring lock here. ” 

“ Break down the door, Teddy ! ” I shouted. “Break 
it down, they’re trying to murder me! ” 

A heavy blow from the outside made the walls ring; 
the door strained and groaned beneath the shock. I 
had backed into the corner and was holding my club at 
the saber guard, awaiting the onslaught of the Mexi- 
cans. 

For a moment my would-be assassins showed signs 
of hesitation. 

“ Curse the Irishman! How does it happen that he’s 
on hand?” shouted Baraja. “ If you’d only have per- 
mitted us to bring our revolvers we could fill the Major 
with lead in a twinkling and be off through the other 
door,” he continued to Vallonga, while another blow 
from Teddy made the wood crack. “As it is, before 
we can finish him his friend will be inside and he’ll start 
some lead mines. I know him of old.” 

“ The door will hold for five minutes, ” Vallonga said 
rapidly. “ ’Tis a short time, but enough for our pur- 
pose. Are you ready? ” 

“Yes.” 


336 


•A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Then let him have it.” 

At his word the three flung themselves upon me. 
Pedillo, his snaky eyes ablaze with hate, was in the 
lead. He aimed a powerful cut at my neck, throwing 
all the force of his withered body into the effort. But 
I was too quick for him. As he came within reach I 
got the end of my table-leg home upon his left temple. 
The blow was sent in with all my strength, and with 
one shrill scream, half a curse and hatf an appeal, the 
lemonade-seller dropped. Even as he fell there was a 
crash of splintering wood, the door was hurled from 
its hinges and through the aperture sprang Teddy Cal- 
lahan and El Cojo, revolvers in hand. 

“So it’s you, Baraja,” the chief remarked, as he 
brought his weapon to bear upon the person addressed. 
“I thought so when I saw Pepita. Your game’s up 
this time, my slippery friend.” 

Fabian Baraja gave a snarl like a cornered mountain 
cat, and hurled himself upon Morales almost before 
the latter had finished speaking. I think the chief 
was a bit surprised, expecting Fabian to yield when he 
found the pistol staring him in the face. He fired, 
though, but the machete of Baraja fell at the Same time, 
and both went down together, Fabian with a bullet 
hole in his forehead. Morales cleft from the collar- 
bone to the heart. 

As they fell, Teddy Callahan shot down Vallonga. 
His aim had apparently been fatal, for when the smoke 
cleared I saw my enemy stretched out on the floor, 
his breast covered with blood, and his useless machete 
by his side. I looked at Teddy. As our eyes met the 
Irishman returned my gaze with a glance as cold and 
hard as steel. 

“ He was my meat. Jack, so if ye wanted him your- 
self I’ve balked ye,” he said. “I introduced him to 
ye, and it’s but fitting that I should end the acquaint- 
ance.” 

“I won’t lay it up against you, old man,” I returned,* 
promptly. “ How did you get an inkling of what was 
going on?” 

“It’s not me that ye have to thank for anything,” 
Teddy explained. “The Senora Morales gets all the 
credit, ye can bet.” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


337 


“ The senora 1 ” 

‘‘Yes, the senora. Ye had not been gone from the 
hotel more than twenty minutes when up rushes a young 
Greaser and grabs me by the arm as I sat on the porch 
with the girls. ‘Come,’ he says, ‘come quick to res- 
cue Senor Juan. ’ Then I saw it was the senora^ in that 
boy’s rig of hers, and ye bet I didn’t let the grass 
grow under my feet. ” 

“ But how did she know I was in peril?” I demanded. 

“ Let her tell ye herself. Come in, Senora., it’s all 
over, and though there’s a sad sight for ye in here ye 
might as well know the truth at once.” 

From the passage the Senora Inez, clad in her 
ranchero costume, stepped into the room. Her face 
betrayed no emotion when she saw Teddy and myself 
were the only ones of its occupants left 6n their feet. 
Advancing to where her husband lay, she bent for a 
moment and made the sign of the cross over his life- 
less body. Then she rose, and her eyes rested on me 
with a strange look as I heard her mutter the words : 

.“You are safe, Senor Juan, safe and unhurt?” 

“Thanks to you, Senora," I replied. “My friend 
tells me I must look to you for an account of my res- 
cue. How did you know that I was here?” 

“ Nothing simpler. I was in Jos^ Rincon’s posada 
with Carlos when we saw you come strolling by with a 
girl. We feared you might be running into danger, 
for we knew Matamoras better than you do. So we 
followed and recognized Pepita. We had thought her 
in San Luis Potosi. She is Fabian Baraja’s mistress, 
and we both agreed that you were walking into a trap. 
So Carlos sent me back for Senor Callahan and fol- 
lowed you and Pepita. When Senor Callahan and I 
returned we found Carlos waiting at the entrance of 
the allev, and he brought us at once to this house. 
That is all.” 

“But not all so far as I am concerned,” I said 
quickly. “Only show me the way and I’ll prove to 
you that no man ever felt rtiore gratitude than I.” 

The beautiful dark eyes of Inez flashed like fire and 
her bosom heaved tumultuously. Then her head 
dropped, and her pallid lips whispered the words: 

“ Too late.” 


33S 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


“Too late, alas! senora^'" I returned. “The only 
comfort I can give you is the fact that your husband 
must have died at once, and without pain.” 

In answer she smiled, keeping her eyes on mine, and 
in her face I read a world of hopeless misery. I was 
about to try and speak some soothing words, when a 
furious oath from Teddy made me glance swiftly about 
the room. 

With one quick flash of my eyes I took in the situa- 
tion, and this is what I saw: Vallonga, pale and 
bloody, had raised his body to a sitting posture, prop- 
ping himself up on his left hand, while, with his right, 
he had drawn a small, single-barreled Derringer from 
his bosom. As my eyes met his he laughed in enjoy- 
ment of his anticipated triumph; leveling the pistol 
fair at my heart, he fired. 

The shot rang through the room, as a slender form 
sprang in front of me, and sank in a mass at my feet. 

Wild with grief I bent down and raised the senora 
in my arms. She had given her life to save mine. I 
knew; for I had seen too many gunshot wounds to 
hope for her recovery. Teddy, cursing savagely, was 
engaged in choking the last remnant of life out of 
Vallonga’s body, but I paid no heed to them. The 
beautiful Inez lay senseless and dying in my arms, and 
my every thought was for her. 

‘ ‘ There ! ye infernal miscreant ! The Prince of Hell 
has ye in his clutches, now!” Callahan shouted at 
last. “To make sure. I’ll part your wind-pipe with 
your own machete. Now, if you ever molest living 
man or woman again, Terence Callahan lies! How 
is it with the senora, Jack? Can she live? ” 

“Get that bottle that lies on the floor yonder. 
There may be some spirit left in it, and she may 
revive,” I directed. 

Not all of the aguardiente had been spilled when I 
wrenched away the table leg. While I held the sefiora 
Teddy managed to get some of the liquor down her 
throat. With a long, shivering sigh she opened her 
eyes. 

“What is it, Juan?” she demanded. “Ah! Dios! 
I know, I remember. Are you safe, Juan? You — 
you are quite unhurt? ” 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


339 


I bowed my head. The tears ran fast over my 
cheeks, but I could not speak. 

“Look at me, Juan. Look at me and tell me you 
are unwounded,” Inez went on. “Let me see your 
eyes, Juan — I want to see your eyes.” 

I raised my wet eyes to hers, and a look of joy 
passed over the dying woman’s face. 

“ Those tears are for me, Juan — all for me?” she 
questioned eagerly, “It is because I — I am going to 
die that you weep, isn’t it?” 

“You gave your life to save mine, Senora^ and I 
would sacrifice what you have preserved, if by doing 
so you could be saved,” I faltered. 

“No, no, Juan, it is better this way. If I had lived 
I would have been miserable. Now that I am dying, 
Juan, you may know my secret. Look in my eyes 
and read it there. Do you know now? ” 

“I know,” I said solemnly and reverently, as I 
gazed into the depths of those magnificent black eyes, 
already beginning to glaze in death. 

“Then, Juan, be mine for — for one moment. Just 
one moment before I die. Call me \nQZy mi guerido, 
and — and put your lips to — to mine.” 

Her arms went around my neck and clung there for 
a moment, and her lips met mine in a fervid, passion- 
ate kiss. Then a shiver ran through her body, and, 
drawing her head back to murmur my name, the senora 
died. 

:|c % « iic ♦ « ♦ 

The morning was fine and the sun shone in a cloud- 
less sky as my wife and I stepped from the train upon 
the platform of the station at Bellhurst. No carriage 
was there to meet us, for I had left my father in 
ignorance of my return to the United States. I had 
supposed that I would find him at Newport, but arriv- 
ing at that resort I had learned that the Hon. John 
Bellhurst for the past year had remained at home, 
never leaving his ancestral domains. So to Bellhurst 
we had come, as fast as steam could take us. 

The village street was deserted, all the houses seem- 
ing to sleep in the sunshine, and during our mile walk 
to the lodge gate we met no one on the road. 


340 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


Strolling leisurely up the drive to the house I pointed 
out the beauties of the grounds to Alys, telling her of 
the many delightful paths and streams that we would 
explore together during the remainder of our honey- 
moon. 

We neared the house, and our footsteps on thegrav(. ' 
awakened a huge hound who lay slumbering on th 
porch, at the feet of an old man half asleep in a great 
armchair. The dog raised his head, took one glance 
at us, and bounding down the steps fairly hurled him- 
self upon my breast, almost upsetting me, while his 
loud barks of welcome quickly brought his master out 
of his doze. 

“ Here, Massena! Comeback here! Down, sir, I 
say. Betray no fear, my dear sir, the dog will n jt 
harm you. Come here, you brute ! Do you hear me?” 
It was my father’s voice. 

Massena dashed up the steps, made a wild circle 
about the Hon. John, and then shot back to me. 

“ It is I, sir,” I called out. “ You see the dog knows 
me better than you do. Have you no welcome for me? ” 
John! ” my father shouted. 

Then to my great satisfaction, for the first time in 
my life I saw the Hon. John forget entirely the fact that 
he was a Bellhurst. I have seen him do it since, but 
that was on the morning when his first grandson was 
placed in his arms. But I anticipate. 

On this momentous occasion it seemed to me thatthe 
Hon. John cleared the distance from the porch to where 
I was standing in one prodigious leap. I will not 
swear that he did so, but merely state my recollection 
of his actions. I know that his arms were round me, 
and he strained me again and again to his breast, while 
tears and smiles struggled for mastery in his counte- 
nance. 

After the first force of his welcome was somewhat 
spent, I gently released myself from his embrace, re- 
marking: 

“ I must remind you, my dear father, that I am not 
alone. You have met this lady before, I think?” 

“If you say so, John, I suppose I have. But you 
will forgive me, my dear girl,” bringing out the words 
in a comical effort at his very best manner, “if I do 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


341 


not immediately recall your name You see, I know 
so many people, and I fear my mind is not so renten- 
tive of names as it was in former years.” 

It doesn’t matter about her name, father, for she’s 
taken another since you last saw her. She’s Mrs. 
John Bellhurst now. I’ve brought a wife home to you. 
Are we welcome?” I said, watching my father’s face. 

The Hon. John backed off a pace, and surveyed us 
in turn with the utmost astonishment. He looked at 
me, then he looked at Alys, then he tried to take 
us both in at the same time, and finally he found his 
tongue. 

“Welcome? Are you welcome?” he said in tones 
that shook a trifle, in spite of his effort at self-control. 
“You young reprobate, you know how glad I am to 
see you, and you presume on it. If you’ll promise not 
to leave me again you may bring a dozen wives here, 
and I’ll welcome every one of them.” 

“No, no, of course I didn’t mean that, my dear,” 
he continued, as Alys uttered a startled little “oh! ” 
and clasped my hand in hers, as if to lead me out of 
hearing of the polygamous suggestions of my generous- 
minded father. “ I only meant to let John see the joy 
I feel at his home-coming. As for you, little woman,” 
advancing and kissing her on the forehead, “be sure 
that the love I bear my son includes my new daughter. 
Only you and John must promise never to leave me, 
but remain with me to the end of my days.” 

We promised, and our promise was faithfully kept. 
Most of our years we have passed at Bellhurst, though 
part of each has been devoted to travel. Before his 
death, which happened several years ago, the Hon. 
John had the satisfaction of knowing that the Bell- 
hurst name is not likely to become extinct. Three tall 
sons and two rosy daughters are a pretty sure guar- 
anty for that. 

Teddy and Evelyn live near us, and wherever you 
find one family you are sure to meet the other also. 
Lucky Vernon, though his business reverses had been 
heavy, still left a sum to his daughter that most people 
would call magnificent, and Evelyn and her husband 
are very happy. They have a tribe of auburn-headed 
youngsters, and I suppose that before very long there 


342 


A PASSING EMPEROR. 


may be alliances between the houses of Bellhurst and 
Callahan. 

My chum and I are still at heart the same firm 
friends. And in the long evenings, while the young- 
sters romp together, and their mothers discuss house- 
hold affairs, we draw our chairs close and talk of the 
times gone by. Time has sifted his white powder 
pretty thickly over both our heads. But our muscles 
are still good, and we both of us feel that if were given 
the chance we could still ride as hard and fight as 
stoutly as we did in the days when we cried “For 
the Emperor.” 


FINIS 


. OVIiaSAl A 

fctis Jaiudli^a io as^’Dod srfi 'natJwJad asDnfif'Ilu lid 

.findfillc!;) . 

find sjnsg ddJ tiAed in lliia din. I bne rnurio 
-^uoT( orfj afiriw ^??§njnov9 ^no! orii ni bfiA .gbnaW 
-aeiiod eajjoad) aiadJom lisdJ bnr» qtaoi gi3l« 

<3>f{i io dini bfi£ ago'D aiinrio luo w£nb aw blorl 

labwoq oJidv/ eid bat^ia gjsd arniT .^d aantit, 

eajoaum npd 4uiC .absad iPO died tsvo y;l:Iaidi xtSQ-iq 
" iTOvi^aa'taw ijj/jdlfasli an io diod aw bnn ^boog liiJa am 
EB bfi£ biiid He obn IliJa blnoo aw aonedo aril 

t:o'^ b. .13 aw xxai!v> e^nb adJ ni bib aw sr '{bifoJe 

'VioiaqmS adl 


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